NBC Picks Up Comedy Series From ‘30 Rock’s Tina Fey & Robert Carlock Starring Ellie Kemper With 13-Episode Order
30 Rock executive producers/showrunners Tina Fey and Robert Carlock will be back on NBC next fall with a new New York-based single-camera series starring another familiar NBC face, The Office alumna Ellie Kemper. The network has given a straight-to-series 13-episode order to the untitled project, written by Fey and Carlock. It will center on a woman (Kemper) who escapes from a doomsday cult and starts life over in New York City. Universal TV and Fey’s studio-based Little Stranger are producing, with Fey, Carlock and 3 Arts’ David Miner executive producing.
“Tina and Robert, who cemented their partnership on 30 Rock, have created a new signature comedy for us that is audacious, emotional, and clever,” said NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt. Added Entertainment President Jennifer Salke, “Original voices like Tina and Robert don’t come along very often, and we wanted them back on the air as soon as possible. And to have them working with Ellie Kemper — who we watched grow up on The Office from supporting player to leading actress — puts the whole package together.”
Related: How ’30 Rock’ Changed The Game For Female Comedy Creators
This marks the second big commitment to a project from Little Stranger and Carlock in the first year of Fey’s rich overall deal at Uni TV. The company has a comedy penned by Matt Hubbard at Fox with a series commitment, as well as another project at NBC written by Colleen McGuinness. “We have been lucky enough to work at NBC for our entire careers (except when Robert worked at The Dana Carvey Show, now available on DVD), and we thank Bob and Jen for their continued support.” said Fey and Carlock. Fey, who created and starred in 30 Rock, recently won an Emmy — her eighth — along with Tracey Wigfield, for co-writing the series finale. She also is returning as co-host of the Golden Globes on NBC alongside Amy Poehler. SNL alum Carlock, who executive produced and co-ran 30 Rock with Fey for all seven seasons, has won three Emmys. NBC has been looking to bring Kemper, who co-starred in the feature hit Bridesmaids, back to the network. Last season, the actress, repped by WME, Mosaic and Ken Richman, toplined NBC’s comedy pilot Brenda Forever. The network also has been the most aggressive in committing to comedy projects, giving The Michael J. Fox Show an 22-episode order off a pitch last season.
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