Ben Stiller is teaming with CBS for a comedy project to star his wife, actress Christine Taylor.
Stiller is set to direct and executive produce the pilot and will play a recurring role on the potential series.
CBS has committed to a pilot for the as-yet-untitled project, to be written by Ajay Sahgal. The network is fast-tracking it for potential summer production as part of its aggressive push to court new projects outside the traditional development cycle.
The comedy, being considered for single-camera treatment rather than the three-camera sitcom approach, is based on Taylor’s life.
“She is a small-town girl who has found her way into Hollywood but still retains a lot of the values and humility (of her upbringing),” CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler said. “There are times when she is befuddled by her status — being an actress married to a big movie star.”
On the show, Taylor’s character will juggle career and family while many relatives from her hometown remain very involved in her life. Stiller will play her husband.
Taylor and Sahgal are familiar faces at CBS. Taylor has starred in several pilots for the network, including “The Commuters” and “Harry’s Girl.”
“We love her,” Tassler said. “And we are over the moon” about working with Stiller,” she said.
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Sahgal penned CBS’ comedy pilot “The Angriest Man in Suburbia” this past development season.
For Stiller, the deal marks the most significant series commitment since the actor’s Emmy-winning 1992 comedy/variety show on Fox.
In September, Stiller is slated to begin shooting the DreamWorks feature “Seven Day Itch,” from the writing-directing team of Peter and Bobby Farrelly (.” He next stars in “Night at the Museum” for 20th Century Fox and director Shawn Levy.
On the small screen, he most recently did several episodes of Fox’s Emmy-winning comedy “Arrested Development.”
Taylor, who also did multiple episodes of “Arrested,” most recently starred on ABC’s comedy pilot “52 Fights” this development season. She appeared with Stiller on the big screen in 2004’s “Dodgeball” and in “Zoolander” (2001), which he directed and co-wrote.
Her upcoming big-screen projects include the Ken Kwapis-directed comedy “License to Wed,” from Warner Bros.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
