TBS To Adapt Hit Online Series ‘Jake & Amir’ As TV Comedy With Ed Helms Producing
EXCLUSIVE: Hit online series Jake & Amir is heading to television. TBS has put in development a comedy based on CollegeHumor’s most popular and longest-running series by comedy duo Amir Blumenfeld and Jake Hurwitz. Hurwitz and Blumenfeld will star the TV project. They will co-write with another scripter duo, Mike Lisbe and Nate Reger, with The Hangover and The Office alum Ed Helms executive producing.
Created by Hurwitz and Blumenfeld, Jake & Amir will revolve around an odd-couple friendship between best friends and co-workers Jake (Hurwitz), the sensible “regular guy”, and Amir (Blumenfeld), the obsessive oddball. Together they must navigate the cubicles of their workplace, stand up to the corporate man and try to function with their dysfunctional co-workers, all while maintaining their shenanigans. CollegeHumor is producing, with the online comedy brand’s Ricky Van Veen and Sam Reich executive producing alongside Hurwitz & Blumenfeld; Lisbe and Reger, who serve as showrunners; and Pacific Electric Picture Co.’s Helms and Mike Falbo. Blumenfeld and Hurwitz originally teamed with CollegeHumor to pitch the Jake & Amir concept to TV networks. TBS, which has been focusing on younger-skewing comedy fare to fit its blockbuster off-network series The Big Bang Theory, bought the project; partnered Blumenfeld and Hurwitz with experienced comedy writers, Lisbe and Reger, who serve as co-executive producers on the network’s Cougar Town; and brought in Helms. This follows the template of TBS’ comedy Sullivan & Son, also exec produced by a well-known actor-producer, Vince Vaughn.
Blumenfeld and Hurwitz have written and starred in more than 600 Jake & Amir videos (two a week for the past five years), which have garnered more than half a billion views to date. In 2010, the show won a Webby Award for best comedy series, with Blumenfeld named best individual performer. The two also have headlined arena college comedy tours. Blumenfeld is with ICM Partners, Principato Young and Gang, Tyre, Ramer & Brown; Hurwitz with ICM Partners, Principato Young and Ginsburg Daniels. In its first TV development season under a first-look deal at Universal TV, Pacific Electric Picture has sold Underdogs to ABC; animated comedy Mystery Island, which has a presentation order at NBC; and an untitled Aisha Muharrar project, also at NBC. This is Lisbe and Reger’s second sale, they also have a comedy spec at CBS through Sony TV and Jamie Tarses. They are repped by ICM Partners, 3 Arts and Jeff Frankel. CollegeHumor, which reaches 15 million people per month , released its first feature film, Coffee Town, in July. Helms is with CAA, Principato Young and Ira Schreck.
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