Earlier today, NBC began picking up programming for next season’s schedule. The first programs to make the cut were the dramas Believe and Crisis, from J.J. Abrams and Rand Ravich, respectively, as well as Jason Katims’ About A Boy comedy. Now, NBC has signed on for two additional original comedies, Sean Saves the World and The Family Guide.
If neither of these shows sounds familiar, it’s because they both were untitled earlier on in the creative process. The Family Guide is the strange DJ Nash program that is also being executive produced by Jason Bateman and Jim Garavente. J.K. Simmons and Parker Posey will star in the series, which will follow a blind dude and his family, who are going through a divorce. Besides executive producing the project, Bateman will also narrate the sitcom. If NBC is pretty confident about this sitcom, that also means the network is pretty confident that ABC's Family Tools, which also stars Simmons, is going nowhere, fast.
NBC has also picked up Sean Saves the World, according to The Futon Critic, which stars Smash and Will & Grace actor Sean Hayes in the titular role. When Sean’s daughter, Ellie (Sami Isler), comes to live with him full-time, he finds juggling his role as single gay parent and his role as a working man to be tougher than he originally imagined. Linda Lavin, Thomas Lennon, and others also star in the new comedy.
NBC hasn’t yet announced which comedies in the network’s current lineup will stay and which will go. Suffice to say, with The Office ending and plenty of cancellations on the horizon, there should be plenty of room for The Family Guide and Sean Saves the World. Hopefully, these programs will be able to bring some longevity to the network’s comedy lineup in coming years.
