Possibly in an attempt to start some sort of nerds vs. jocks rumble, ABC has ordered pilots for two single-camera comedies. Deadline reports the network has given the green light to Chunk & Bean, a comedy written by Ed Herro and Brian Donovan, and Square Roots, written and executive produced by Vijal Patel. Left unsaid is that fact that both programs would be immeasurably improved by swapping out the words in each other’s titles, creating an hourlong block of comedy from Square Chunk and Bean Roots.
Chunk & Bean centers on an unlikely friendship between “two misfits, Chunk and Bean, who benefit from having two very different sets of parents living next door to each other.” It’s not clear if it’s a liberals-vs.-conservatives situation or something more along the lines of hippies and punkers, but surely at some point the phrase, “But that’s not how we do things at home!” will be uttered. (The script is inspired by Herro and Donovan’s childhoods, so someone with access to their personal histories probably knows something we don’t.) Square Roots, in contrast, is about “a man from a family of logic-driven engineers who is determined to use his ‘gift’ to help the people he loves with their everyday issues…whether they like it or not.” That vague threat of violence aside, Patel comes to the series from The A.V. Club favorite Black-ish, which bodes well for its prospects.