‘Saturday Night Live’ writer John Mulaney’s failed pilot finds new life at Fox

It is interesting in many ways seeing how comedies tend to work almost in cycles. For example, do you remember the days when NBC used to be the home of critically-acclaimed, outside-the-box series? Well, those days are starting to slowly and surely wither away thanks to the network’s decision to now try and emphasize family comedies and possible ratings draws over something that could get a lot of buzz, but not as many viewers.

It is for the reasons above that we think that NBC passed on one of the most-ambitious pilots of the year in a comedy starring comedian / “Saturday Night Live” writer John Mulaney, and loosely based on his life. This show was going to also star Nasim Pedrad, and be executive-produced by “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels. How can it be bad with so many great names attached to it? We have no idea.

Well lucky, Fox has come to the rescue like a knight in shining armor, at least since they are in the business of doing what NBC was up to a few years ago. According to Deadline, Fox has decided to order a new version of the script from Universal TV (who produces both “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “The Mindy Project”), and if they like it, the show will receive a series order of six installments. While that’s not necessarily akin to winning the lottery, it is a nice sample size to see if there is something there with your show. Remember that both “The Office” and “Seinfeld,” which each went on to be legendary programs, each started off with extremely small seasons.

As of right now, Mulaney and Martin Short are the only two actors confirmed to be on this version of the show, but we’ll have some more news on Pedrad and the others soon. She may be rushed into some sort of a decision, given that her taking the job could mean less time on “SNL” this coming season. That makes matters even more stressful on Lorne, given that he already has to officially replace both Fred Armisen and Bill Hader.

Photo: NBC