Jim Jefferies-Suzanne Martin Comedy, Justin Spitzer’s ‘American Auto’ Get NBC Pilot Orders

Nellie Andreeva

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NBC has given pilot green light to two comedies, multi-camera Jefferies, starring Jim Jefferies, from the stand-up comedian, writer-producer Suzanne Martin and Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner’s Hazy Mills; and single-camera American Auto, from Superstore creator Justin Spitzer and Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment. Both projects hail from Universal Television where Hazy Mills and Spitzer are under overall deals.

Jefferies and American Auto both had a put pilot commitment at NBC — six years apart. Jefferies was pitched this past fall, while Spitzer and Kaplan originally teamed up and sold American Auto to NBC in 2013. The script did not go to pilot back then, and Spitzer went on to create another single-camera blue-color workplace comedy series for the network, hit Superstore, now in its fifth season. With Spitzer stepping down as Superstore showrunner last summer to focus on development under his Universal TV overall deal, he and Kaplan took a new stab at American Auto, which was redeveloped. .

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Written by Spitzer, American Auto is set at the headquarters of a major American automotive company in Detroit, where a floundering group of executives try to rediscover the company identity amidst a rapidly changing industry.

Spitzer executive produces with Kapital’s Kaplan and Dana Honor.

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Written by Jefferies and Martin, Jefferies stars the veteran comedian as a fictionalized version of himself – a comedian with a unique and often controversial take on modern life, relationships and co-parenting with his best friend.

Jefferies and Martin executive produce with Hayes and Milliner for Hazy Mills, along with Tim Sarkes and Alex Murray for Brillstein Entertainment Partners.

“I grew up watching the greatest sitcoms ever — Cheers, Frasier, Seinfeld and Friends — so when I had the chance to work with NBC, I jumped at the opportunity,” Jefferies told Deadline at the time of the pitch sale. “I look forward to hopefully adding my new show to that list.”

Jefferies recently headlined his own late-night series, The Jim Jefferies Show, on Comedy Central. He also co-created and starred in the 2013-14 sitcom Legit, which aired for one season on FX and a second on FXX. Martin created Hot in Cleveland and its spinoff The Soul Man for TV Land and Crowded on NBC, all in previous collaborations with Hazy Mills. She most recently served as an executive producer on Will & Grace.

Now in its fifth season, Superstore has been a solid linear performer and a strong digital draw for NBC, emerging as one of the network’s tentpole comedy series. Before creating Superstore, Spitzer spent seven seasons writing for and producing on the Emmy-winning comedy The Office in which he rose from story editor to co-executive producer.

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