As reported by a Deadline exclusive, Fox has purchased a multi-camera comedy pitch from writer Jonathan Goldstein (Horrible Bosses) and producer Dan Lin. The project is based off a segment from Ira Glass' This American Life radio program in 2006. Warner Bros TV and Lin's production company, which recently signed a deal with Warner Bros, will be producing the show, called The Man Upstairs. This project will be only the latest in a long line of shows that Goldstein has worked on and actually the second attempt by Lin and Glass to adapt a This American Life segment for video, their first being the 2006 film, Unaccompanied Minors (which, to be blunt, failed pretty badly).
TAL producer, Sarah Koenig, delivered the "Deal of a Lifetime" story about her stepsister on the radio program. The basic premise is that a young woman finds a deal on a home that she can't really afford. The house comes with two listings, one at the market price she can't afford and one at a significant discount with a catch -- and that catch is the current owner himself. Ned, a sick and elderly man, is offering the house for cheap under the condition that he never actually has to move out and the show's star takes that deal. At first, sharing the home isn't terribly problematic but as the young woman begins starting a family and as Ned continues to cling to life the home becomes rather cramped, setting the stage for the new comedy. If you're interested in learning more you can listen to the segment or read its transcript on the TAL website.
