The Middle is ending and Patricia Heaton is on the search for her next gig. The star has teamed up with her husband, David Hunt, and The Simpsons co-executive producer Ryan Koh for an NBC sitcom. Titled Winners, Deadline says the show will follow "a group of young people struggling with growing up and becoming independent. When their parents run out of options, they send them to a residential life-coaching facility that prepares them to embrace adulthood." Heaton and Hunt will produce through their FourBoys Entertainment.
Larry Wilmore, Viola Davis to produce ABC multicam
ABC likes to keep it in the family. Most of their comedies are about family so that stands to reason. The network is also tuned into letting previous collaborators create shows on their network. The latest pilot is coming from Blackish producer Larry Wilmore and How to Get Away with Murder star Viola Davis.
Coming from Insecure executive producer Regina Hicks, Black Don't Crack is a comedy that follows "three former sorority sisters who lost touch after college reunite during a pivotal point in each of their lives and realize that now that they are of a certain age sometimes it’s okay to crack and no one will be there for you like your sisters."
Deadline also reports that Davis's husband Julius Tennon will executive produce through the power couples' JuVee Productions.
Kenya Barris is venturing to the "Coming to America" sequel
Blackish creator and all around interesting human Kenya Barris is a champion of black culture. Listen or read any interview he's done in the past four years and you can see that. He's taking his talents to a sequel to one of Eddie Murphy's best movies: Coming to America.
Barris, alongside 50/50 and Warm Bodies director Jonathan Levine, are developing the movie together. Writing duties will be handled by Barris while Levine takes on the director hat. The Hollywood Reporter -- who broke the story -- also notes that Murphy is somehow involved in development. He should star as well.
Talented teen actor gets an NBC show produced by Adam and Naomi Scott
First he's in a movie and now he's starring in his own TV show. And here I am just writing this news piece for a middling website. JJ Totah (Other People) is headlining a show written by David Monahan and Danielle Hoover. The half hour is about a confident kid moving from a tiny town in Indiana to New York to live with his aunt, a woman who's forced happiness in her life. Her end goal is to teach her nephew that old dreams can often lead to new ones. Deadline reports that the Scotts will produce via Gettin' Rad along with Monahan and Hoover.
Aasif Mandvi is coming back to TV, premium cable
Just because HBO brought back then canceled The Brink, it doesn't mean that Aasiv Mandvi can't be successful on his own. In fact, the comedic actor is making a lateral move. The Daily Show correspondent is teaming up with Dave Holstein for a Showtime series. Deadline reports the show is called Fatwa -- the Islamic word for legal ruling by an expert in religious law -- and will follow Mandvi as a cartoonist who receives a death threat that jump stars his life. Both Holstein and Mandvi will write the script and executive produce.