BET Developing ‘W.H.I.P.s’ Comedy From Alyson Fouse, Page Hurwitz, Wanda Sykes & Tom Werner

EXCLUSIVE: BET has put into development half-hour multi-camera comedy W.H.I.P.s (working title), from Wanda Sykes and Page Hurwitz’s Push It Productions and Werner Entertainment. Alyson Fouse (All About the Washingtons, Black Jesus) is slated to write the pilot and executive produce.

Based on an original pitch by Sykes, Hurwitz and Kim McKoy (BET’s It’s a Manns’ World Nellyville) W.H.I.P.s (w/t) is described as a first-of-its-kind African-American female driven comedy that celebrates Women who are Hot, Intelligent, and in their Prime. It follows four former sitcom stars from the ’80s and ’90s who try to navigate the third acts of their lives together under one roof. Through their funny and poignant stories and relationships, the show will examine the notion of family and take on important issues of sisterhood, aging in a youth obsessed culture, finding love and intimacy in the digital age, having a career in the gig economy, and redefining yourself in a world that is rapidly changing.

Push It Productions produces. Sykes and Hurwitz executive produce along with McKoy, Werner Entertainment’s Tom Werner (That 70’s Show, Roseanne, The Conners) will executive produce with Jake Densen producing.

Fouse recently served as consulting producer on The Cool Kids. She was a co-executive producer on All About the Washingtons and is a writer on Black Jesus.

Sykes is a 2019 Emmy nominee for outstanding variety special and writing for a variety special for her first Netflix special Wanda Sykes: Not Normal, which also earned an Emmy nomination for Sykes’ producing partner Hurwitz. Sykes also recurs on ABC’S Black-ish, for which received Emmy noms in both 2017 and 2018 for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.

In 2012, Sykes teamed with veteran producer Hurwitz to form Push It Productions. The company was behind the revival of NBC comedy competition Last Comic Standing, and has since landed such projects as Wanda Sykes Presents Herlarious, Talk Show The Game Show, and Unprotected Sets on Epix.