Stars on Screen
Stars aligned: If you love “Modern Family” or just good comedy in general, you’ll want to keep tabs on a new TV project from series co-creator Christopher Lloyd (no relation to the “Back to the Future” actor) and executive producer Vali Chandrasekaran.
Both are working on a new multicam comedy over at ABC, where it was recently handed a straight-to-series order. The show is about former roommates reuniting after their egos drove them apart, but a tale of clashing personalities requires some big talent to infuse some warmth into every scene. Luckily, this project has landed two very big TV stars as its leads: Alec Baldwin (“30 Rock”) and Kelsey Grammer (“Frasier”).
With eight Primetime Emmy Awards between them, Baldwin and Grammer add some serious on-screen star power to this upcoming series. They’ll be playing two of the three main characters, who were roommates in their 20s and are now reuniting decades later for another shot at the lives they wanted for themselves.
ABC is hoping this one will be ready to premiere in the 2021-22 season, and it’s worth noting the history that exists between the actors and the show’s creators.
Grammer is best known for his decades-long portrayal of Dr. Frasier Crane on “Cheers” and “Frasier,” and Lloyd served as writer and producer/ executive producer of “Frasier” for several seasons. Post-“Frasier,” the two also worked together on the Fox series “Back to You.” And while Lloyd and Chandrasekaran worked together on “Modern Family,” Chandrasekaran was also a writer and producer on NBC’s “30 Rock,” which starred Baldwin (Grammer also guest-starred in three episodes).
Union’s station: For her next TV project, actress Gabrielle Union (“Being Mary Jane”) has teamed up with journalists Jemele Hill and Kelley L. Carter to create a new comedy series for Showtime.
A half-hour comedy, “New Money” focuses on a group of thirtysomething Black women who have “solidified their careers, achieved financial independence and moved past the awkwardness and money struggles of their 20s” (according to the official series description). But now they’re stuck having to deal with the repercussions, which include “hangers-on, false friends, unwanted media attention and greedy relatives — while also navigating the treacherous world of dating.”
The series is written by Patrik-Ian Polk (“Being Mary Jane”) and based on an original idea by Hill and Carter, who launched Lodge Freeway Media in 2018 to focus on telling more diverse stories. “New Money” is their first foray into scripted TV and they took the project to Union, who is producing the series through her company, I’ll Have Another Productions, which landed a first-look deal with Sony Pictures Television.
After “America’s Got Talent,” Union’s most recent TV gig was the Spectrum series “L.A.’s Finest,” which was canceled in October after just two seasons, presumably freeing her up to work on other projects that fall under the I’ll Have Another banner. Next up, Union will star in and produce “The Perfect Find,” a Netflix movie about a beauty journalist who soon realizes
her new boss is her frenemy and (spoiler alert) the parent of her new love interest.
Calling ‘UNO’: It’s no secret that board games and card games have experienced a big resurgence in popularity lately, though the classics never truly go out of style.
In 2020, there has been a strong demand for low/no-tech, family-friendly entertainment, and, according to market researcher NPD Group, that helped UNO retain its top spot as the top-selling game in America. In fact, more than 150 million copies of the card game have been sold since 1971, so there’s a good chance you’ll already know the rules if — or rather when — a TV adaptation hits the air.
That’s right: Mattel Television has teamed up with Propagate founders Ben Silverman and Howard T. Owens to create an UNO TV game show.
Propagate is the Los Angeles-based production company that’s behind such shows as Food Network’s “Chopped,” Fox’s “Labor of Love” and Amazon’s “Lore.” Silverman, Owens and Greg Lipstone will serve as executive producers, along with “Let’s Make a Deal” producer John Quinn.
“The UNO Game Show” would feature four teams that will battle against each other to become the UNO champion (no doubt helped by that dreaded and much-sought-after “Draw Four” card).