Amazon developing six comedy pilots from Garry Trudeau, The Onion, The Daily Show writers, other people
As part of the ongoing content apocalypse that has wiped out most of the world's middlemen, Amazon has picked six new pilots out of the many submissions it received to its recent open call for anyone to make pitches for comedy shows. By an amazing coincidence—and no doubt after sifting through numerous suggestions about "zombies who are also stand-up comics" or something—Amazon has combed through the approximately 2,000 entries and settled almost exclusively on shows from established comedy people, who just so happened to have the best, most workable ideas. (Or, perhaps, were the only people who bothered to actually write them down—hence their jobs.)
Among them: Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau, who will make a return to (sort-of) television after Tanner '88 with the similarly political comedy Alpha House, about four D.C. senators rooming together; The Daily Show's David Javerbaum, who teams with 30 Rock's Don Scardino on the musical comedy Browsers, about four young Manhattanites working at a news website; The Big Bang Theory co-stars Kevin Sussman and John Ross Bowie, who co-wrote the animated Dark Minions about "two slackers just trying to make a paycheck working an intergalactic warship;" Kristen Schaal, who's co-producing with Butter screenwriter Jason Micalleg the animated Supanatural, about two "outspoken divas" who balance battling the paranormal with working at the mall; and finally, the staff of our sister publication who are doing The Onion Presents: The News, which goes behind the scenes of the Onion News Network to reveal all the things that happen there in pursuit of a story. The only show from someone who has not already been on TV—Those Who Can't, about a trio of immature teachers—hails from Denver-based comedy group The Grawlix.
Once completed, all six of these pilots will be placed on Amazon's Instant Video service to watch for free, after which users will be allowed to vote on which ones should be picked up to series. That is, of course, until Amazon realizes that most of its viewers don't have any industry experience, so they hire network executives to do the voting for you.