Trying To Find The Empire Of Comedies

Along with sports comedies, FOX has a second theme that seems to be reoccurring throughout their development slate: music. With Empire being the huge hit it is (at least now), and Lee Daniels

planning a sister series drama in Star, FOX now seems to want to make some comedies based around music—not in a Galavant style, though, don’t confuse music-based comedy with a musical comedy like Galavant. In addition, they will have a couple of hours more of their schedule to fill midseason through the ending of American Idol. So, let’s see what they have:

· Belles & Whistles is a single-cam that depicts a dad who moves to Nashville to pursue his musical dreams after being fired from his job as an engineer in Silicon Valley, California. So, if you watch Empire and Nashville but wish they were funnier, maybe this is for you? It’s from 20th Century Fox but does not yet have a put pilot commitment.

· Eat Pray Thug is a single-cam that depicts an Indian-American rapper, Ambudkar, who still lives with his parents in Queens, New York. It’s in a better position than Belles & Whistles, as it has bells and whistles attached to the script (meaning there is a penalty they have to pay if they don’t order a pilot—like my pun?). It’s produced by 20th Century Fox. Looks like a solid attempt to diversify broadcast TV even more.

· Front Man is another single-cam, and is about a person the opposite of the one in Belles & Whistles. This protagonist is starting to realize that he won’t be a success in music, and instead starts to sing in a local wedding band. Warner Brothers is the major production company behind it, and Elizabeth Banks is directing the pilot. Speaking of the fact that it has a put pilot commitment, so far its chances are greater than the other two listed above.

FOX next season will have Empire on Wednesday (and maybe Star), but Empire won’t be on all season long. Additionally, there’s a hole in the schedule left by American Idol, and maybe picking up one or two of these comedies could be a smart idea. You can definitely tell that they are trying, at the very least, and the storylines seem promising. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!