While the latest news on the Arrested Development movie may not be all that promising, fans can rejoice in the fact that the show's narrator/creator is heading back to television land with a new comedy.
The show, a workplace comedy set at an Internal Revenue Service district office, landed at Fox with a put pilot commitment and one of the biggest penalties so far this season, estimated in the range of $650,000.
It will be written by Brent Forrester, writer-director on another workplace comedy, NBC's single-camera "The Office."
Fox brass was so high on the 20th TV/Imagine project that they bought it pre-emptively before it could be pitched to other networks.
So we have Ron Howard and one of the guy's doing the good stuff over at The Office, and they are going to make fun of the IRS? I think you have me, but since we are talking about the IRS you might have to sell me a little harder.
"The one thing that unites all Americans is their suspicion and hatred for the IRS," Forrester said. "That makes the characters on the show underdogs, because outside the office everyone is suspicious of them."
The IRS agent at the center "is trying hard to believe that his job is good and noble and provides a very important, vital service," Forrester said.
"It's a classic workplace show; the model for it is 'Taxi,' " Forrester said. "In essence, it's a group of eclectic characters who have come to the job from different paths and who represent different points of view and different voices."
There will be procedural elements to the show, too.
" 'L.A. Law' had lawsuits, and 'CSI' has murders; this show has audits, tax collection and special ops, with the FBI against organized crime and drug dealers," Forrester said.
Apparently this Forrester character is a super jedi or something, because he clearly knows my kryptonite. Make one even tangential reference to Danza and you have me hooked. We'll keep you up to date with casting rumors and such when those start flying around.
