Is ABC getting Friend-lier or what? Matthew Perry has signed a deal with the network that airs Courteney Cox’s Cougar Town to star in, executive produce, and co-write a potential comedy series about a self-consumed 40-year-old manager of a second-rate sports arena who’s reluctantly learning to be a nicer guy. “We’re trying to do a show that’s really, really funny and can slow down and play some heartfelt moments,” Perry tells EW.com. “All of this stuff originally came from watching a lot of Alan Partridge and the British Office, and just wanting to go be funny again.” As for the setting? “The idea of where the guy works I ripped off from a 1981 Burt Reynolds movie, Paternity,” he cracks. “He ran Madison Square Garden. I was like, “It’s an okay movie, but what a cool job he had.’ [An arena] is a place where a lot of crazy things can come through.”
Not unlike his character on NBC’s 2006-2007 showbiz dramedy Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (Perry’s last regular TV gig), he’s playing the role of script writer in real life; he’s penning the pilot with Alex Barnow and Mark Firek (Family Guy, ‘Til Death). “I was curious what the process of sitting down and facing the page would be like and was really relieved that I liked the challenge of it,” Perry says. “And it gives me something to do when I can’t sleep at 3 o’clock in the morning.”
Although his last two TV series aired on NBC, Perry chose ABC for this project. “[ABC Entertainment president] Steve McPherson is a very smart dude and he has obviously shown this year that he can launch comedy, so it seemed like a smart place to do the show,” he says. “Clearly, they were the right choice alphabetically as well.”
Asked if the inventive Seinfeld reunion on Curb Your Enthusiasm has made him more interested in a Friends reunion of some kind, Perry quips: “Someone who executive produced or who starred in the show needs to be on a hilarious cable show for about eight years and then bring us all on and we’ll do it…. I think it’s much more fun to see them on screen that way than if we just did some Thanksgiving reunion like, “Hey, Monica! How ya been?”
For more on Matthew Perry’s new TV project, check out the Hollywood Insider page in this week’s EW.
PHOTO CREDIT: Ian Daniels/startrakphoto.com
mmmmm….i think a freinds reunion would be alot fo fun..They always had a great story to go with the episode and there are a ton of ideas that could go a few shows or movies including the new kids, and ross and rachel maybe getting married
pass and…pass…
Please be a multi camera series, not a single camera series!
If Perry’s influenced by Alan Partridge, I’m definitely curious, even if that isn’t my favourite comedy. In fact, I can even see him pulling off a character like Partridge. Love that British cringe comedy is getting a good reception in the States beyond just The Office – though granted Larry David has been doing it outrageously well for a long time now. Now I’m just wondering when someone in the States is going to see the potential of Peep Show…
I posted something similar last night about Alan Partridge but also included a YouTube link so I guess they deleted my post? Anyway, everyone should look up Alan Partridge on YouTube because Steve Coogan is brilliant. And I agree with topazbean that there’s a hungry audience for Peep Show in the States – if only Showtime would rescue it from the mediocre clutches of BBC America (who have the TV/DVD rights but are doing nothing with ‘em).
Sounds groovy. I’m behind you Mr. Perry!
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