Married Simpsons vets Mike Scully and Julie Thacker writing autobiographical sitcom for ABC

By Mike Vago | October 19, 2014 | 11:35pm

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It’s a Simpsons Writers Spin-Off Spectacular! Or as close as we’re going to get, as the husband-and-wife former-Simpsons-writers team of Mike Scully and Julie Scully (née Thacker) have sold a live-action sitcom to ABC. Scully is a divisive figure among Simpsons fans, as he had the unenviable tasks of first replacing Conan O’Brien on the writing staff, and then later becoming the showrunner during seasons 9-12—widely considered to be the beginning of the show’s decline.

However, Scully also wrote classic episodes like “Lisa’s Rival,” “Two Dozen and One Greyhounds,” “Team Homer,” and “Behind the Laughter,” as well as co-writing The Simpsons Movie. Thacker wrote several later episodes, including “The Old Man and the ‘C’ Student,” and she also served as a producer on the show from 1998-2001.

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Their new show, Raising Adults, won’t deal with brainstorming chalkboard gags or booking celebrity guest stars. Instead, the multi-camera sitcom will mirror their own efforts pushing their adult children out of the house. Adults is the second family sitcom the Scullys have sold this season, as they also have a series in development at Fox. That yet-untitled show, which is about a widower with three kids who marries a divorcée with two kids of her own, is a remake of Spanish hit Los Serrano—but it really sounds like The Brady Bunch.

So, everything’s coming up roses for the Scullys. Will those roses contain ready-to-sting bees? Given that the last time the couple worked together was on Dads, they probably will.