Hulu Acquires Seinfeld Starting in June; FX Orders Comedy Pilot with Jenny Slate, Ari Graynor

Thursday, April 30, 2015

Hulu Acquires Seinfeld Starting in June; FX Orders Comedy Pilot with Jenny Slate, Ari Graynor

Yesterday at the Hulu Upfront Presentation in New York's Hammerstein Ballroom, they announced that Hulu has acquired the exclusive subscription video on-demand (SVOD) rights to all episodes of iconic sitcom Seinfeld, as well as a new, multi-year agreement with AMC that grants Hulu the streaming rights to future programming from AMC Networks. In addition to presenting groundbreaking content deals and the upcoming slate of Hulu Originals, the company took the stage to publicly unveil new business growth benchmarks - including a 50% increase in subscribers - advertising innovations, and a deal with Cablevision Systems Corporation that will be rolled out over the next year. Back to Seinfeld, Hulu has acquired the exclusive SVOD rights to all episodes of the award-winning, hit series. After becoming one of the most successful sitcoms of all time, all nine seasons of the timeless comedy series will make their SVOD debut exclusively on Hulu. The series comes to Hulu in a new deal with Sony Pictures Television. Every episode of Seinfeld will be available for Hulu subscribers to stream this June.

Jenny Slate and Ari Graynor

FX Networks has ordered a pilot co-created by the award-winning team of Gillian Robespierre and Elisabeth Holm, starring Jenny Slate and Ari Graynor. Production of the pilot has begun in New York. Robespierre (Obvious Child) will direct the pilot and write it with Holm (Obvious Child, Welcome to Pine Hill), both of whom will serve as Executive Producers along with Ravi Nandan and John Hodges of A24 Films (The Bling Ring, Obvious Child) and Slate (Obvious Child, Married). The pilot is being produced by FX Productions.

The pilot is an honest comedy exploring the adult female friendship of two creative partners as they embark on a cross-country road trip. Jenny Slate and Ari Graynor (For a Good Time, Call... , Bad Teacher) star as "Lou" and "Viv," two gutsy born and raised New Yorkers who discover each other in their 30s, make a movie together, and jump into the great unknown of their next project. Lou and Viv find strength and vulnerability in each other, learning how to have a fight and somehow still get back in the car. It's like Thelma and Louise - but nobody dies. The pilot is the first major project for Robespierre, Holm, Slate and A24 Films since Obvious Child, a 2014 romantic comedy that marked Robespierre's feature film directorial debut and starred Slate. Among other awards for the feature, Robespierre was honored with the National Board of Review USA Award for Best Directorial Debut, Holm won the Red Crown Producer's Award at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, and Slate received the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Movie. Slate currently co-stars on the FX comedy series Married, which is returning for its second season on Thursdays at 10:30 PM e/p, beginning July 16. Graynor most recently starred on the CBS comedy Bad Teacher. Stay with us for continued updates, should this pilot move forward as a series.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Wednesday, October 23

The Goldbergs - "Parents Thursday" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
While at school, Erica attempts to fool Beverly into thinking Parents Weekend has been rescheduled to Parents Thursday so the family won’t attend … but the smother knows better! Meanwhile, William Penn is doing “Romeo & Juliet,” the perfect play for Adam to romance Dana until someone else gets the leading lady.

Schooled - "Outbreak" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When a bad flu epidemic hits William Penn, Coach Mellor is sent to his sick bed and Principal Glascott must step it up as the wrestling coach with the Jenkintown Cup on the line. Meanwhile, Lainey thinks she can easily pass a class taught by CB, yet it’s anything but.

Modern Family - "New Kids on the Block" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Haley is determined to follow the advice in her parenting books with the twins, but Phil and Claire think their old methods are better. Meanwhile, Manny is set to direct Jay’s dog bed commercial in the hopes of winning his ex-girlfriend back.

Single Parents - "Sport" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Will is pumped to become the coach of Sophie’s soccer team in order to spend more time with his daughter, especially since she has been distant recently. However, his intentions to focus on Sophie and teach the team that you don’t need to win to have fun slowly shift once he realizes he has a secret weapon on his team – Rory – but allowing him on the team means Will must keep a certain secret about Rory. Meanwhile, Douglas and Angie attempt to navigate what their friendship looks like now that they are roommates for the foreseeable future.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "The Gang Texts" (FXX, 10:00PM ET/PT)
During their trip to the Philadelphia Zoo, Mac sets up a text group chain for the gang, but confusion sets in and the gang must learn from the meerkats on how to communicate properly in a group.

Family Time - "Black Love" (Bounce TV, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Lisa and Tony appear on a TV show that exposes some of the imperfections in their relationship; Donnie and Brandy use a dating app to play matchmaker for each other.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 21)

Wednesday, October 23

Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt/The Office) - Watch Ellie on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Michael Douglas (The Kominsky Method) - Michael stops by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Kathryn Hahn (Transparent/Happyish/Free Agents) - Kathryn appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Andrea Savage (I'm Sorry/Significant Others) - Andrea is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Jesse Plemons (No Activity/Bent) - Jesse visits Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He also talks about El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie on ABC's GMA 3: Strahan, Sara & Keke at 1pm.
Lea Michele (The Mayor/Scream Queens) - Lea drops by A Little Late with Lilly Singh at 1:35am on NBC.
Tim Robbins (The Brink) - Tim appears on Conan at 11pm on TBS.
Ali Wong (American Housewife/Are You There, Chelsea?) - Ali is a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Amanda Seales (Insecure) - Amanda guest co-hosts The Real, so check your local listings. She also talks about Small Doses on Access Live, so check your local listings.
Thomas Lennon (The Odd Couple/Sean Saves the World/Reno 911!) - Thomas will be on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Ken Jeong (Dr. Ken/Community) - Ken talks about The Masked Singer on People Now at 12pm and on the BUILD Series at 1pm..
Alfonso Ribeiro (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air/In the House/Silver Spoons) - Alfonso talks about Catch 21 on Home & Family on Hallmark Channel at 10am ET/PT and on Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Alan Alda (M*A*S*H) - Alan talks about the Clear + Vivid Podcast on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother/Stark Raving Mad/Doogie Howser, M.D.) - Neil is a guest on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Anna Camp (Perfect Harmony/The Mindy Project) - Anna talks about Perfect Harmony on New York Live on WNBC in New York at 11:30am ET.
Rob Corddry (The Unicorn/Ballers/The Winner) - Rob is a guest on the BUILD Series at 2pm.