New Comedy Showcase series ahead

The Arrested Development actor will also star in The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, about a US businessman who finds himself out of his depth when he is mistakenly sent to run his company’s UK arm.

He co-wrote the show with former stand-up Shaun Pye, the co-creator of dark aninated comedy Monkey Dust, for Channel 4’s second Comedy Showcase series.

Cross’s Arrested Development co-star Will Arnett is also in talks to appear in the show, according to trade magazine Broadcast.

Other pilots being made for the strand are:

• Guantanamo Phil: About a birdwatcher who returns home to Stoke-on-Trent after a spell wrongly imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, written by Worst Week of My Life creators Mark Bussell and Justin Sbresni.

• Campus: A university-set comedy being developed by Green Wing creator Victoria Pile’s production company Monicker.

• Phone Shop: An improvised sitcom from Phil Bowker, who previously produced Pulling, 15 Storeys High and Time Gentlemen, Please

• Pete vs Life: Rafe Spall – who recently appeared as Frankie Howerd’s lover Dennis Heymer in the BBC Four biopic starring David Walliams – plays a man whose every move is remarked upon by sports commentators.

Plus One, Free Agents and The Kevin Bishop Show all landed full series following the first Comedy Showcase last year.

Published: 19 Mar 2009