Maysoon Zayid To Topline Single Muslim Woman Comedy ‘Can-Can’ In The Works At ABC From Hazy Mills
ABC has given a script commitment plus penalty to Can-Can, a single-camera comedy starring comedian Maysoon Zayid. It comes from writer Joanna Quraishi (Kevin Can Wait), Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner’s Hazy Mills (Hot In Cleveland, Grimm) and Universal TV where Hazy Mills is based.
Co-written by Zayid, and Quraishi and inspired by the life of Zayid, Can-Can follows the life of a Muslim woman who has cerebral palsy, as she struggles to find love, the right career, and discover who she is separate of her opinionated Muslim parents.
Zayid and Quraishi also executive produce with Hazy Mills’ Hayes and Milliner. Universal TV is the studio.
Zayid, who described herself in a BBC interview as “a Palestinian Muslim virgin with cerebral palsy, from New Jersey, who is an actress, comedian and activist,” openly discusses her disability and her ethnic background in her standup.
ABC has found critical and commercial success with Speechless, a comedy series about a family with a child who has cerebral palsy.
Zayd, who made her acting debut on As the World Turns, also appeared in the movie You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, produced by and starring Adam Sandler, and documentary The Arab Americans, which she also produced. Her 2014 TED talk about her career and life living with cerebral palsy became the most watched of the year. (you can watch a video below).
Quraishi’s writing credits include Kevin Can Wait, Part Timers and Weird Loners. She’s repped by Artists First, Gersh and Bloom Hergott.
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