CBS Gives Pilot Orders To Hilary Winston’s ‘Bad Teacher’ & Bruno Heller’s ‘Advocates’
CBS has handed two more pilot orders to comedy Bad Teacher, from Hilary Winston, Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg; and drama The Advocates, from The Mentalist creator Bruno Heller.
Bad Teacher, a single-camera comedy series adaptation of the hit 2011 movie, was written by Winston (Happy Endings, Community) and produced by the film’s writers-producers Stupnitsky and Eisenberg. The TV adaptation, about a sexy, foul-mouthed divorcee who becomes a teacher to find her next husband, is being produced by Sony Pictures TV, where Winston is under a deal, Mosaic and Stupnitsky and Eisenberg’s Quantity Entertainment. Winston, Stupnitsky and Eisenberg executive produce, with Winston set to showrun. Bad Teacher‘s pickup increases single-camera comedies’ advantage at CBS to 5 pilots vs. 3 multi-camera ones as the network appears determined to launch multiple single-camera comedies next season. This marks the second pilot for Winston, repped by UTA and Mosaic, who also has comedy Girls On Film at NBC. It has been a great season for ABC Studios-based Eisenberg and Stupnitsky. The duo, repped by WME and Mosaic, has three broadcast pilots, Bad Teacher and Pulling and Trophy Wife at ABC. They also have new series Hello Ladies at HBO.
The Advocates, which had a pilot production commitment, is a legal drama written and executive produced by Heller. It centers on a female lawyer and a male ex-con who team up as “victim advocates,” going to the edge of the law to right wrongs and fight for the underdog. Warner Bros TV, the studio behind The Mentalist, also produces the new project. It is unclear what a series pickup for Advocates would be mean for Heller’s involvement in The Mentalist if it gets renewed for another season.
For a full list of broadcast network pilots and for all Deadline pilot season stories, go to our Pilot Panic page.
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