For those wondering if TNT’s cancelation of Franklin and Bash last year was going to keep former Saved by the Bell star Mark-Paul Gosselaar off of our TVs for an extended period, take comfort in knowing that isn’t the case at all. NBC has ordered up its first comedy pilot of the 2015-2016 season, the Gosselaar-starring sitcom People are Talking. We’ll have to wait and see if that title will actually apply to the show itself.
People are Talking will center on two very different couples who also happen to be neighbors and best friends. Due to their closeness, they are constantly and obsessively picking life apart in every way possible. According to THR, race and sex will get some of the general focus, with specific attention given to whether the new babysitter is a porn star or not. (Man, I hate when I have that problem.) Should People are Talking get picked up to series, we can expect the conversations to be no holds barred in nature.
Gosselaar already has a co-star for People are Talking in Tone Bell, who will play the male in the neighborly couple. This will be Bell’s first leading role, though he’s had some pretty meaty regular parts on the short-lived comedies Whitney and Bad Judge. He’s got some great comedic chops, so it’ll be great to see him front and center.
People are Talking is being put together by TV vet DJ Nash and Hollywood producer Will Packer. Nash wrote and produced for such shows as ’Til Death and Traffic Light before creating last year’s one-season comedy Growing Up Fisher with J.K. Simmons, and he’ll serve as the showrunner for this pilot. Packer’s name became synonymous with success in 2012 with Think Like a Man, which he followed with a string of recent big screen hits, including Ride Along and The Wedding Ringer. He’s got Ride Along 2 and Straight Outta Compton in the pipeline, as well as the upcoming small screen remake of Uncle Buck. Directing the pilot is Pam Fryman, who was behind the camera for nearly 200 episodes of How I Met Your Mother, and a large handful of Two and a Half Men episodes, among other things.
Somewhat surprisingly, this will be the latest in a line of multi-camera comedies for NBC, joining Undateable and One Big Happy. Expect to hear more about People are Talking’s future in the coming months.
