Sitcom in development in the US

Getting On creators Vicki Pepperdine and Joanna Scanlan are developing a new show for America’s IFC network.

This Land is Ours revolves around a group of anarchist squatters who take over an abandoned terraced house in Harlem.

Scanlan, best known for playing Terri in The Thick Of It, and Pepperdine – whose roles include Rev, Twenty Twelve, Miranda and The Adventures of Professor Branestawm – are developing the series with Merman, the production house Sharon Horgan runs with her business partner Clelia Mountford.

IFC says that the This Land Is Ours characters ‘are forced to defend themselves against the fat cat developers who they discover have sold the property for near billions. The bizarre collective of activists, artists and hippies form a strong bond while waging war to bring back the gritty city they love.’

As well as Getting On, which they co-wrote with Jo Brand, Pepperdine and Scanlan also created the BBC Four series Puppy Love, which was cancelled after one season in the UK but is being reworked for an American broadcaster.

This Land Is Ours was unveiled by IFC in New York yesterday as part of a slate that also includes a new series co-created by Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston.

Todd Barth Can Help You is is about a insurance adjuster who decides to become a self-help guru and will star co-creator Steven Weber.

Here is the full development slate that the broadcaster announced:

TODD BARTH CAN HELP YOU

A conservative insurance adjuster completely changes his path in life when he starts to believe he has what it takes to become a new age, self-help guru. Steven Weber (Wings) is attached to star. Produced by Moonshot Entertainment, Todd Barth Can Help You is created and executive produced by Bryan Cranston, Clay Graham (Santa Clarita Diet) and Weber. James Degus (SuperMansion) is also executive producing with Graham writing the series.

CANTERBURY TALES

The 1970s punk scene comes to rough and fumbling life when Terry, a young music aficionado flees Texas and moves into the run-down, cockroach-infested Canterbury Apartments, in the heart of Hollywood. Terry and his rowdy female musician roommates sleep all day and make music and mayhem all night at Hollywood’s first punk rock club, as they try to break into the music industry. Created by Allison Anders (Mi Vida Loca, Grace Of My Heart) and Terry Graham (drummer for seminal punk band The Bags, Gun Club and author of Punk Like Me).

DETECTIVE LADY

A film noir inspired comedy following female detective, Annie, who solves crimes in the hamlet of Sicily, USA. She is a rebel crime solver with a bit of a drinking problem, a new partner to contend with, and some family history to unravel before it tears her apart. Created by Kelly Galuska, who has worked on Bojack Horseman and Mom, and was recently nominated for a WGA Award for her individual episode of Bojack Horseman.

HOW TO RIG AN ELECTION

Based on the book How to Rig An Election by former political consultant Allen Raymond, the series explores the astonishingly dark underbelly of political campaigning. Written and executive produced by Tom Ruprecht (Late Night with David Letterman, The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore).

GRAND LAKE

A dark comedy about two female best friends who wish nothing but the worst for each other. They share a murderous secret that most days takes a back seat to the everyday drama of their disappointing adult children, small town politics and an annoying, yet charming, ex-husband. Grand Lake is created by WGA award-winning Gretchen Enders (Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street) and produced by the Academy Award-winning A24 (Room, Amy).

LAUGHS IN TRANSLATION

Based on the Above Average web series that starred SNL alumnus Brooks Wheelan, this series is a fish out of water travel show that explores what different people Around the World find funny and why. With local comedians as guides, the host will travel the world to find out if anything is universally funny or if some humour is just lost in translation.

LIVING WITH YOURSELF

A burned-out copywriter undergoes a novel treatment to become a better person, only to find his worst enemy is himself. Told through multiple perspectives and intersecting storylines, this inventive philosophical comedy asks: do we really want to be better? Created by Emmy and Peabody award-winning Tim Greenberg (Daily Show) and executive produced by Anthony Bregman (Foxcatcher, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and Jeffrey Stern of Likely Story. Jeff Blitz (Review, The Office) is attached to direct and executive produce.

Published: 22 Apr 2016