NBC buys a sitcom reminiscent of Anchorman, but with astronauts

By Sean O'Neal | January 16, 2014 | 6:28pm

Aux Features TV

Recognizing the lesson of Leprechaun, Friday The 13th, Hellraiser et al. that every franchise’s sensibilities are best explored… in space, Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are prepping a sitcom “in the tone of Anchorman” about America’s race to the moon. The duo’s Gary Sanchez Productions sold the pilot Mission Control to NBC, with It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’s David Hornsby writing the 1962-set workplace comedy in which “a strong woman butts heads with a macho astronaut” amid the burgeoning space program. If the show makes it to air, it would see America making its own triumphant return to a TV mission we more or less abandoned after Homeboys In Outer Space.

Mission Control was part of a busy day of buying pilots that also saw NBC pick up Love Is Relative from Borat co-writer Dan Mazer, about a married couple whose relationship is tested when the wife’s newly divorced brother moves in, and the J.J. Philbins-written, Jason Katims-produced Ellen More Or Less, about a woman who reinvents herself after losing 100 pounds. Superficially, both premises sound somewhat familiar; in fact, Ellen More Or Less has almost the exact same premise as Fox’s new Fatrick, in which a former fat guy similarly tries to overcome his overweight past. Perhaps NBC could shake both these shows up by setting them… in space.