FOX orders 10 more episodes of “Mulaney” in advance of 2014 Upfronts presentation

Great news for John Mulaney, fans of Mulaney and the cast, crew and friends of the sitcom, Mulaney! FOX has ordered 10 additional episodes of the new multi-camera sitcom, just days in advance of the broadcast network’s annual Upfronts presentation to advertisers to announce the new fall TV schedule.

That gives Mulaney a season order of 16 episodes.

Check out this homepage image/logo for the show on FOX!

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The creator/star himself told his Twitter followers overnight: “FOX made this a great night by picking up my show “Mulaney” for 10 more episodes. I am thrilled. Sincerely. Call me with any questions.”

After NBC passed on a pilot of Mulaney last spring, the show found a new home in turnaround at FOX.

Mulaney-Ep104_show-ScStandUP_01293__140507011447-575x864They taped six episodes of a newly revised and recast Mulaney at the beginning of 2014. Then they came back and taped an additional half-hour of straight stand-up from Mulaney in front of a live studio audience. Here is a photo of him doing just that (the photo credit says it’s from episode 104).

In April, when Mulaney himself teased a minute of footage on Late Night with Seth Meyers, I wrote, hopefully: “So when do we get to see all of it? Or some of it? Please, FOX, tell us! Unless you’re going to give it a full order for the fall. In which case, we can wait another month for the Fall Upfronts. Thanks in advance!”

Official show description: From Emmy Award-winning writer and comedian John Mulaney (“Saturday Night Live”) comes MULANEY, a multi-camera ensemble comedy series about a rising stand-up comic trying to take his career to the next level and the friends and mentors who lift him up, hold him back and push him around. 

JOHN MULANEY is a 29-year-old comedian working the stand-up circuit and looking for his big break. But when self-centered comedy legend and game show host LOU CANNON (Emmy Award winner Martin Short, “SCTV,” “Saturday Night Live,” “Father of the Bride,” “Primetime Glick”) hires Mulaney as a writer, life changes drastically. Lou may be John’s entrée into the world of big-money show business, but he’s also a total nightmare. Still, the job represents everything Mulaney thinks he wants. But does he really? And, at what cost? And what does it say about him if he quits? And what does it say about him if he stays? And has Lou had work done?

Mulaney’s life becomes a tug-of-war between the stress of his new job and his guilt over not being there for his two best friends and roommates: JANE (Nasim Pedrad, “Saturday Night Live”), a tightly wound, yet directionless personal trainer; and MOTIF (Seaton Smith), a powerhouse comic who shares nothing in common with Mulaney – except the world of stand-up. Rounding out this odd group of friends is ANDRE (Zack Pearlman, “The Inbetweeners”), a trust-fund baby who has a knack for showing up in Mulaney’s life at the worst possible moments.

If Mulaney has one refuge from the chaos that surrounds him, then it’s his neighbor, OSCAR (Academy Award nominee Elliott Gould, “M*A*S*H,” “The Long Goodbye,” the “Oceans 11” franchise), a 71-year-old gay veteran of New York who has seen it all. Oscar is opinionated, refined, gentle, wise and sometimes extremely cantankerous, but most of all, he’s an oracle of sound advice when Mulaney feels like life has gone off the rails. 

A unique mix of ensemble comedy, stand-up performances and an observational point-of-view, MULANEY is a show about the big questions in life: how hard they are to answer and how easy it is to maybe just ignore them to get through the day.

Mulaney is produced by Universal Television, Broadway Video and 3 Arts Entertainment.

John Mulaney is creator/writer/executive producer. Also credited as EPs: Lorne Michaels, David Miner, Jon Pollack, Andrew Singer and Andy Ackerman.

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P.S. This also probably means Pedrad will leaving Saturday Night Live after next week’s season finale. Which, considering how historically big the SNL cast is this year, isn’t that show’s biggest problem.

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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