HBO has ordered two new pilots, the first from HBO alum Bruce Eric Kaplan, who executive produced the last few seasons of Six Feet Under on the subscription cable network and, later, Girls. The second pilot is coming from David Marshall Grant, Sarah Condon, and Andrew Haigh.
Kaplan’s pilot order was announced on Friday, and will follow a brother and sister who have grown up and are working hard in the great state of New Jersey, but still have time to philosophize throughout the day. It sounds pretty deep, but People in New Jersey will actually be a half-hour comedy. Kaplan will write the pilot, and impressively, SNL’s Lorne Michaels and Young Adult/’s Jason Reitman are on board to executive produce.
The second pilot is currently untitled but, according to Deadline, the pilot is based on a script from Michael Lannon called Lorimer. The pilot will follow a group of gay friends who are dealing with life in San Francisco, CA. The untitled series will also be a comedy, and will be directed by Haigh.
Both pilots sound HBO-ey enough to make it to the network, but since the subscription cable network has really been pushing comedy this season, both pilots do have some competition, including the already picked up show Family Tree, from Christopher Guest. Since HBO cancelled Bored to Death and How to Make it in America, there’s certainly a comedy niche to fill, and we’ll keep you posted when the network makes a decision on People in New Jersey and the Lorimer-based pilot.
