Veteran comedian and frequent Academy Awards host Billy Crystal is headed to television, where he has taken on a starring role in a comedy pilot where he will play a…veteran comedian. FX has signed on the funnyman for a new pilot called The Comedians. As the title implies, there will be more than one funny guy headlining the show.
The Comedians will follow Crystal as a man who is late in his comedy career. To freshen things up a bit, Crystal gets paired with a younger comedian, a prospect he is none too happy about, so the two can put together a late night sketch show, which means the pilot is going to be one of those show within a show endeavors. While the world of late night (and comedy) has been explored in programs like Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and the world of sketch comedy has been explored in 30 Rock, none of those shows had Crystal as a headliner, and that counts for something.
According to THR, the pilot is hailing from Seinfeld, Mad About You, and Curb Your Enthusiasm producer Larry Charles, along with Burn Notice’s Matt Nix and Secret Girlfriend’s Ben Wexler. All three will be writing and executive producing the pilot for FX. The single camera comedy will be executive produced by Carl Molinder and John Nordling, as well.
The Comedians is not a totally original project. It’s actually based on a Swedish series of the same name. With all of the big names involved, there’s a good chance U.S. audience will eventually get to see the pilot. Since FX has decided to send some of its content to new channel FXX, the network is pretty gung ho about adding new shows to the lineup, and with all of the massive talent involved with The Comedians, this one seems almost destined to make the schedule.
