Michael Urie/Becki Newton Comedy Fun Not Moving Forward at CBS
Paul Dailly
at
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Well, this is no fun.
CBS has passed on the comedy pilot starring Ugly Betty scene stealers Michael Urie and Becki Newton, despite the pilot never being produced, per Deadline.
The multi-camera pilot co-created by Michael Patrick King (Sex and the City, 2 Broke Girls) starred Urie and Newton as a brother and sister who team up to take over the family business: a funeral home.
Urie’s character returned to his Pennsylvania hometown to help his sister, played by Newton, run the family’s struggling funeral home.
The two siblings “always encourage each other to have fun — no matter what hardship life is currently serving up,” according to the official description.
The pilot commitent was announced by CBS last September, with King being joined by Ugly Betty writers Tracy Poust and Jon Kinally, who would also have served as co-creators.
Urie and Newton would have also produced the series, which was being eyed for a slot on the 2020-21 TV schedule.
The news is somewhat surprising given that the two shared so much chemistry on Ugly Betty, but the network is trying to narrow down its shows to make sure it can announce a fall schedule next week at its virtual upfronts presentation.
The news comes just days after the network similarly nixed David E. Kelley's adaptation of The Lincoln Lawyer, which scored a series commitment last year.
It was the series many expected to be on the fall schedule, but with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, there are a lot of movers and shakers on the pilot front.
Pilots have not been able to complete production, meaning that networks are having to go on the faith of the ideas for the potential new shows.
On top of that, more networks will want to keep proven marginally rated series around instead of putting a marketing budget into an unknown show.
The other networks should follow suit in the coming days with announcements, but there is likely to be some surprising decisions.
CBS alone has already canceled Hawaii Five-0 and God Friended Me, so there's really no telling what might happen here.
Over to you, TV Fanatics.
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Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.
