Liz Feldman to Write Script for Ellen DeGeneres’ New Comedy

Yesterday, several news sources announced that NBC has given a pilot order to a multi-camera comedy titled One Big Happy from executive producer Ellen DeGeneres. The news marks NBC’s 13th comedy pilot order of the season.

Openly gay comedy scribe Liz Feldman, who is the writer behind 2 Broke Girls, will pen the script and executive-produce alongside DeGeneres. Warner Bros TV and DeGeneres’ studio-based company, A Very Good Production, are producing the comedy. AVGP’s Jeff Kleeman is also on board as executive producer.

The project, which is being described as a “lesbian-themed comedy pilot,” revolves around two best friends, a gay woman and a straight man, who decide to have a baby together. The situation becomes complicated as the woman becomes pregnant just as her best friend finds and marries the love of his life.

In the past, NBC has provided a host of comedies with gay characters, including Will & Grace, Smash and Go On.

The Hollywood Reporter noted that “NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt, who is openly gay, has a history of LGBT-themed programming dating back to his time as the head of Showtime, where he greenlighted lesbian-themed The L Word as well as a U.S. adaptation of gay-themed Queer as Folk … For Feldman, One Big Happy marks a reunion for the producer with DeGeneres after having served as a writer on The Ellen DeGeneres Show for more than 100 episodes from 2003 to 2007.”

Previously, Feldman has written for numerous TV series and specials, including 2 Broke Girls, Hot in Cleveland, Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The 79th Annual Academy Awards, Blue Collar TV and All That. She had a producer credit on 2 Broke Girls, Hot in Cleveland, Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show and the 2007 short My First Time Driving.

In other recent Hollywood news, Sony Pictures has made a preemptive acquisition for the film rights to Sheryl Sandberg’s book, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. Check out the ScreenCraft post, Sheryl Sandberg Signs “Lean In” Movie Deal with Sony Pictures.

And don’t forget to check another one of our recent posts, Was Quentin Tarantino’s Script Leak a PR Stunt?