Following Anger Management and George Lopez's upcoming comedy series, a third Lionsgate sitcom is getting the 10-90 treatment at FX. Meaning, FX has ordered ten episodes of the series, and if all goes well and they're happy with the show, they'll pick up 90 more episodes. Anger Management is the first example of the deal going through at the cable channel, and George Lopez's Saint George could end up being the second, though that one hasn't aired yet and is only in the "ten" stage of the deal. And today comes word that an untitled comedy starring Kelsey Grammer and Martin Lawrence is also in the works. It's well worth noting that all three of these comedies have known and beloved comedic actors attached to star, which doesn't necessarily guarantee the series' success - Anger Management's ratings have been struggling - but it's certainly offers a pretty substantial selling point.
Deadline describes the series as a buddy comedy, which comes from Bob Boyett and Robert Horn, and stars Grammer and Lawrence as two Chicago lawyers whose paths cross at court on the worst day of their lives, "forcing each other to find the balance between the ethical and the unscrupulous in both their professional and personal lives." FX ordered ten episodes of the comedy and if they like those ten, they'll order 90 more. Deadline says the series was also in the running at TV Land, which wouldn't have been a bad spot for it, considering both stars have successful TV series on their CVs, and that's kind of TV Land's bag (especially for Cheers-related actors, when we consider the network's upcoming new series Kirstie) but it ended up landing at FX.
Martin Lawrence got his start in TV, playing the role of Maurice Warfield in the What's Happening! sequel series What's Happening Now!, but his biggest small-screen claim to fame is Martin, a 90s comedy, which aired for more than 130 episodes. During the series' run, he built his career on the feature side with films like Boomerang and Bad Boys. And all of his roles since Martin have been movies, so this will be a return to the small screen for the actor.
Grammer never really left TV. In fact, the actor's run as the star of Starz's political drama Boss was connected to the same deal with Lionsgate that ties him to this new comedy series. But it is a return to comedy - unless we consider that he's stuck with comedy for more than two-decades, when factoring in previous series and his voice-work for The Simpsons. With Boss cancelled after two seasons, it looks like it's back to funny business for the Emmy-winning actor. On the TV side, Grammer's achieved A-list status for his role as Dr. Frasier Crane in Cheers and Frasier. He's stayed pretty active in television in the years since the 90s sitcoms finished up. In addition to The Simpsons, he also starred in Back to You and the short-lived ABC comedy Hank. While Boss was only on the air for two seasons, it was around long enough for Grammer to win a Golden Globe for the lead role as the intimidating Mayor Tom Kane. As great as he is as a dramatic actor, it's going to be great seeing him back in comedy.
