NBC buys three new comedies, including two about damn kids who think they know everything

By Sean O'Neal | August 13, 2013 | 3:43pm

Aux Features TV

In need of new original comedy series—especially now that both Community and Parks And Recreation are transitioning to season-long, Bergmanesque meditations on the pain of loss—NBC has picked up three to work on next season. Dan Mazer, who collaborated on Borat and Bruno, has a multi-camera project that’s described only as “an adult relationship comedy,” which means that, like Borat and Bruno, maybe you’ll see some penises. David Janollari, who helped develop Friends and Six Feet Under before taking over programming at The WB and MTV, has another multi-camera project called Gifted, a “Family Ties meets Big Bang Theory” story of “two average, middle-class parents” tasked with raising their intellectually gifted son and not tainting him with their average, middle-class stupors.

Along thematically similar lines, Parks & Rec writer, Comedy Bang Bang regular, and Humblebrag progenitor Harris Wittels has an as-yet-untitled show about “a well-meaning slacker” (as opposed to a mass-murdering slacker) who still lives with his parents, and who clashes with them over how to raise his kid brother, “a multimillionaire high school entrepreneur.” For example, perhaps the slacker’s parents think his kid brother should invest in sensible treasury bonds, while the slacker’s like, “Dude, you gotta cut loose a little. Look into some biotechnology stocks.” And then every episode thereafter is just about tracking their investment portfolio. Sounds pretty funny, Harris Wittels!