FOX greenlights “Short-Com Comedy Hour” series, eyes stand-up comedians to showcase
Montreal's Just For Laughs festival just got that much more interesting, as FOX announced Wednesday that it had ordered The Short-Com Comedy Hour, with up to nine episodes airing next summer and showcasing stand-up comedians in four mini sitcoms (short-coms) per hour.
“We are basically ripping open the traditional scripted comedy development process with The Short-Com Comedy Hour,” FOX's Entertainment President Kevin Reilly said. “Our end goal is to provide distinct comedy voices with a world-class platform to experiment, grow and perfect their ideas and to hopefully build them into mainstream comedy hits in the future.”
FOX's two comedy chiefs -- Suzanna Makkos and Marcus Wiley -- already are in Montreal scouting potential stars for the new series at the Just For Laughs comedy festival, which runs through Sunday.
The Short-Com Comedy Hour is a companion piece to FOX's already announced mini-animation blocks that will air on Saturday nights in the coming year. As a live-action showcase, it'll focus on stand-up comedians who create, produce and cast themselves in one-act comedies.
Neal Brennan, Dov Davidoff, Michael Kosta, Kevin Smith and Ali Wong taping FOX “Shortcoms” | The Comic's Comic
[...] FOX Entertainment President Kevin Reilly had said when they announced this project last summer: “We are basically ripping open the traditional scripted comedy development process with The Short-Com Comedy Hour. Our end goal is to provide distinct comedy voices with a world-class platform to experiment, grow and perfect their ideas and to hopefully build them into mainstream comedy hits in the future.” [...]