CBS Picks Up Dana Klein/Mark Feuerstein Comedy, Andy Weir NASA Drama To Pilot
CBS has made its first pilot orders this season, giving the green light to 9J, 9K, And 9L, a multi-camera family comedy from the husband-and-wife team of Dana Klein and Mark Feuerstein, toplined by the former Royal Pains star; and NASA-themed drama Mission Control, from The Martian author Andy Weir, The Martian producer Simon Kinberg and veteran showrunner Charles Eglee (Dexter). Both projects hail from CBS TV Studios.
9J, 9K, And 9L, produced by Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment, was written by Friends With Better Lives creator Klein and Feuerstein inspired by a time in Feuerstein’s adult life when he lived in apartment 9K in the building he grew up in, sandwiched between his parents’ apartment, 9J, and his brother, sister-in-law and their baby’s apartment, 9L, and his attempts to set boundaries with his intrusive but well-meaning family. CBS landed the project in August in a competitive situation with a major penalty.
Klein and Feuerstein executive produce with Kaplan and two former top comedy executives-turned-producers, CBS’ Wendi Trilling and 20th TV’s Dana Honor. This marks the first pilot order for Trilling since she teamed with Kaplan and the first network pilot for Honor via Kapital, joining comedy Brown Girls at Freeform. 9J, 9K, And 9L reunites Klein, Kaplan and CBS; the network carried Klein’s multi-camera comedy Friends With Better Lives, executive produced by Kaplan. At CBS, Kaplan and his Kapital Entertainment also have sophomore comedy series Life In Pieces.
9J, 9K, And 9L stems from the experiences of New York native Feuerstein — now living in Los Angeles — while filming USA Network’s Royal Pains in New York. His parents had bought the apartment next to one Feuerstein grew up in, so, not knowing how long the show would last at the pilot stage and in the early going, he decided to live in that apartment while commuting to Los Angeles on weekends to see his wife and kids. It was like old times — with his parents making him breakfast and dinner and sharing stories from their day. The family reunion was complete when Feuerstein’s brother moved with his young family into the apartment next to his and his parents’ while their duplex was being renovated.
Feuerstein is coming off an eight-season stint as the star of USA’s Royal Pains. He will next be seen in a major role on the upcoming Prison Break reboot for Fox.
Written by Weir, Mission Control revolves around the next generation of NASA astronauts and scientists who juggle their personal and professional lives during a critical mission with no margin for error.
Weir executive produces with Courtney Conte & Quan Phung (Slingshot), Simon Kinberg & Aditya Sood, and Charles Eglee.
Weir and The Martian director-producer Ridley Scott and producer Kinberg reunited for another feature project, which was set up at Fox last year.
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