Deadline Hollywood describes “HarveKarbo,” a comedic hourlong the amazing Joel and Ethan Coen (“No Country For Old Men,” “Burn After Reading,” “A Serious Man,” “True Grit”) are producing but not writing:
It follows the title character — an ill-tempered LA private investigator whose cases frequently involve the depraved doings of the Hollywood elite — and his deadbeat friends in Los Angeles’ El Segundo.
As best I can discern, this is the first TV project the Coens have ever produced.
The pilot was scripted by Phil Johnson, writer of the 2011 Ed Helms vehicle “Cedar Rapids,” which grossed less than $7 million domestically but garnered 89% positive notices among top critics on Rotten Tomatoes. So color me interested.
The Coens aren’t the only big-deal filmmakers getting into the TV comedy game.
Deadline also reports the great and greatly ambitious Jon Favreau -- who scripted “Swingers,” “Made” and “Couples Retreat” for the big screen when he wasn’t voicing Pre Vizsla on “Clone Wars,” or playing the pizza-eating guest in the “Ain’t It Cool” TV pilot playing Barry in “I Love You Man” or making a mint directing the “Iron Man” motion pictures – has scripted a CBS sitcom pilot..
Favreau's script, “Tweaked,” is about single parents who date each other in the wealth-saturated coastal town of Santa Monica, Calif.
If IMDb is to be believed, this is not the first pilot Favreau has written; that site indicates he wrote and directed a 1999 TV comedy titled “Smog” starring Sarah Silverman and “Walking Dead” scientist Noah Emmerich.
Favreau has lots of non-writing TV credits. He famously portrayed Monica Gellar’s rich boyfriend Pete on six 1997 episodes of “Friends,” he directed episodes of Judd Apatow’s “Undeclared” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and he directed the pilot for a dreadful 2007 ABC sitcom titled “In Case Of Emergency.” He also hosted and masterminded IFC’s “Dinner For Five,” likely the finest chat show ever forged.
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