The pilots just keep rolling in. Carlos Mencia and Cedric the Entertainer will have new shows on ABC, while Monk creator Andy Breckman is working on a project for TBS.
Do you like quirky, hour-long, cable network shows about straitlaced detectives who solve crimes, but sometimes clash with their less competent colleagues? Andy Breckman sure does. Just weeks after the end of Monk's eight-season run on USA, Breckman has announced a new, yet conspicuously familiar, detective show for TBS called Uncle Nigel, reports Variety. On Monk, Adrian Monk fought crime in San Francisco while dealing with the antics of a screw-up named Randy. On Uncle Nigel, Nigel Wells will fight crime in Philadelphia while dealing with the antics of a screw-up named Ronnie. Then again,Monk's formula kept the show alive for eight long years, due in large part to fun writing and strong characters. Here's hoping the show gets a cast strong enough to ensure another near-decade of quirky detective work.
Cedric the Entertainer, King Of Comedy, protagonist of Code Name: The Cleaner, is set to star as a former baseball player who must deal with the consequences when his son and young granddaughter come back into his life, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The show comes from producers Devon Shepard (Weeds, Everybody Hates Chris) and Al Higgins (NewsRadio and Malcolm in the Middle, but also 'Til Death). The show sounds like it will be far from a knockout, but there's some real value to be mined from Cedric the Entertainer's charm and showmanship. Hell, Entertainer is his middle name! Well, technically it's "the," but still.
Not much is known about Carlos Mencia's new show, also from the above article. What we do know isn't encouraging. The writing team is Nat Bernstein and Michael Katlin, the same duo that created a short-lived John Goodman sitcom, Center of the Universe, and a startlingly long-lived show about a bully reincarnated as a dog, 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd. The premise for Mencia's show is simply that it will be a family show based around his stand-up. It isn't immediately obvious how his "Not for the Easily Offended" brand of humor will translate into a half hour of family-friendly material, but at least Mencia's many, many haters will finally have something new to boo.