Ben Stiller and SideCar Developing Cheerleader Comedy at Fox, Ali Larter to Star

By Will Thorne

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Ben Stiller is one of the executive producers behind a single-camera cheerleader comedy in development at Fox.

Titled “The Sidelines,” the prospective comedy has received a script commitment and has “Resident Evil” and “Heroes” star Ali Larter on board to star and executive produce. “The Good Place” and “Mozart in the Jungle” writer Kate Gersten is attached as a writer and EP.

“The Sidelines” follows a newly separated mother of two (Larter) who, at age 40, decides to achieve her lifelong dream of becoming a professional cheerleader. Against all odds, she makes the squad for a local Detroit football team and becomes the accidental den mother to this group of scrappy, resilient young women – and rediscovers herself in the process.

The project hails from Entertainment’s content development accelerator SideCar. Stiller is producing via his Red Hour shingle, alongside Nicky Weinstock and Jackie Cohn. Gail Berman and Alissa Vradenburg serve as non-writing EPs, with Laura Vikmanis on board as a consulting producer. 

Fox partnered with Berman to launch back in Feb., with the goal of identifying and incubating programming both for the network and third-party platforms. Fox retains ownership of all series that originate under the SideCar banner.

Some of the other series in development at the network on the comedy side include a project from “The Grinder” creators Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul, and another set in a small, middle-class town in Long Island from “The Conners” writer Liz Astrof. Drama-wise, Fox has a Sterling K. Brown-produced series and a project with “Empire” actor Nicole Ari Parker attached to star coming down the pipeline.

Larter is repped by Untitled Entertainment and Gersh.