According to Deadline, CBS has picked up a meatball comedy from executive producer Bill Lawrence. Yep, a meatball comedy. Not a comedy based on the classic 1979 Ivan Reitman film Meatballs, but a show about meatballs. Oh, and it’s not a Cake Boss-style show about fabulous meatball construction, or a show about the best meatballs in the world hosted by professional meatball Guy Fieri. It’s a sitcom about two best friends who open a meatball restaurant only to realize that they hate working with each other, so they start seeing a couples therapist “who will guide them through life, love, and the fast-paced world of being big-city restaurant owners.” Now, that description is a little less silly than simply saying “it’s about meatballs,” but it’s also less funny, so we’re going to keep saying it’s a show about meatballs.
As for how the meatballs actually come in, Deadline says the story was inspired by the adventures of Daniel Holzman and Michael Chernow, two consulting producers on the show who also happen to be the owners of New York’s Meatball Shop restaurants. In a delightful example of life imitating art that is based on life, the two are best friends who opened a meatball restaurant only to realize that they hate working with each other, so they started to see a couples therapist who—presumably—guided them through life, love, and the fast-paced world of being big-city restaurant owners. The project is being written by Ground Floor’s Jeff Astrof, and CBS has already given it a pilot commitment. If it takes off, look for the other meatball shows we made jokes about in the first paragraph to actually happen.