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Letterman Sells Sitcom to NBC
November 1, 1999 David Letterman can now call off his epic feud with former network NBC. The peacock net, which Letterman has continued to blast since moving to CBS in 1993, has just committed to a sitcom from the Davester. NBC ordered a pilot of Stuckeyville, a one-hour comedy-drama from Letterman's Worldwide Pants company and Viacom Productions, after Letterman's current network passed on the project. Stuckeyville will star newcomer Thomas Cavanaugh as Ed Stevens, a down-on-his-luck guy who loses his job and catches his wife cheating on him in the same day. The character decides to leave the big city and return to his home in rural Ohio. The series had languished in development for years at CBS, where it fluctuated between half-hour and hour formats and even went by the title Ed for a time. The project's first episode was filmed for pilot season last year, but CBS ultimately passed. Late Show With David Letterman executive producer Rob Burnett says he was surprised at first when NBC showed interest. Any past animosity between Letterman's camp and their former employer had no negative effect in trying to sell the show to NBC, says Burnett. "The Berlin Wall has come down," Burnett says, referring to the fact that most of the key players at NBC and CBS during the heated Letterman vs. Jay Leno battle for The Tonight Show have since moved on. Worldwide Pants expects to shoot Stuckeyville in January or February for NBC. Besides Late Show, Worldwide Pants also produces The Late Show With Craig Kilborn and co-produces Everybody Loves Raymond along with HBO Independent Prods. Stuckeyville would be the production house's first non-CBS project. |