ABC Orders Comedy Pilot From ‘New Adventures of Old Christine’ Creator

By Joe Otterson

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – ABC has picked up the multi-cam comedy pilot “My Village” from Kari Lizer.

The project follows an empty-nester mom who wonders how she ended up alone while her children live their best lives thousands of miles away. She decides her place is with her family and as she reinserts herself into their lives, her kids realize they might actually need her more than they thought.

Lizer is writing and executive producing the pilot. Sony Pictures Television and Studios will produce, with Lizer currently under an overall deal at Sony.

Lizer previously created the hit CBS multi-cam “The New Adventures of Old Christine” starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The show ran for five seasons between 2006 and 2010. It received eight Emmy nominations during its run, with Louis-Dreyfus picking up a win for best actress in a comedy series in 2006. Lizer’s other TV credits include the original run of “Will & Grace,” for which she was nominated for four Emmys as part of the show’s writing team.

“My Village” is now the second comedy pilot ABC has ordered for the 2020-2021 and its sixth pickup overall. Earlier on Thursday, the network commissioned the drama pilot “Rebel,” inspired by the life of Erin Brockovich, which hails from “Grey’s Anatomy” boss Krista Vernoff. Katey Sagal is attached for the lead role of that project. The only other ABC comedy pilot order at the time of this publishing is the single-cam “Prospect,” which follows a young woman who moves to the Wild West to be a schoolteacher but ends up teaching a group of rowdy ranch hands.