Pilot season is currently under way, where the networks order pilot episodes of shows that could be next season’s breakout hits. Yesterday, Fox issued apilot orderfor a new untitledX-Menseries that will be set within 20th Century Fox’sX-Menmovie universe. A high-profile project like this sets the bar rather high for everything that comes after it, but NBC has ordered a high-profile pilot of their own, that may prove to be quite controversial. The network has ordered the pilotWhat About Barb?, a gender-swapped version of the 1991 comedy movieWhat About Bob?starringBill Murray.
Deadlinereports that this TV reboot hails from ABC Studios, which will feature female versions of both the Bob Wiley and Dr. Leo Marvin characters played byBill MurrayandRichard Dreyfusin the original movie. The movie followed the psychotherapist Dr. Leo Marvin whose family vacation is upended when his obsessive-compulsive neurotic patient Bob Wiley tracks him down. It seems that the TV series will lose the vacation angle, with the show following a female psychotherapist that tries to cut ties with her most over-bearing patient, but fails, “and gains an annoying family member in the process.”
Thepilot scriptwill be written by the writing team ofJoe PortandJoe Wiseman, who previously worked onNew GirlandThe Office. This gender-swapped take was actually first developed by ABC Studios during the 2015-2016 pilot season by the studio’s comedy development executiveZack Olin, who came up with the idea to turn Bob and Leo’s characters into women. The project was turned into an open writing assignment, with the studio hearing pitches for the past two years, beforeJoe PortandJoe Wiseman’s take won the studio over. The project was shopped around to networks before landing at NBC in a competitive bidding situation.
Theoriginal moviealso starredJulie Hagerty,Charlie Korsmo,Kathryn Erbe,Tom AldredgeandSusan Willis. The film grossed $63 million from a $39 million budget in 1991, which, when adjusted for inflation, equates to a $130.8 million movie today.Frank Ozdirected the film from a script byTom Schulman(Dead Poets Society), based on a story byAlvin Sargent(Ordinary People,Spider-Man 2) and producerLaura Ziskin(Spider-Man). It wasn’t revealed if any of the original producers or filmmakers will be involved in the series.
Joe PortandJoe Wisemanwere under anoverall dealat CBS TV Studios, where they most recently wrote and produced forThe Odd CoupleandThe Crazy Ones. They have also written and produced for1600 Penn,New Girl,Last Man StandingandPerfect Couples. This project marks their first time back at NBC since they served as producers onThe Officeback in 2006. Now that the pilot has been ordered, hopefully we’ll be hearing about theWhat About Barb?cast very soon.
