NBC has given a script commitment with penalty to There Goes the Neighborhood, a single-camera comedy from NBA star LeBron James’ SpringHill Entertainment, Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence’s Doozer and Warner Bros. TV where both companies have deals.
Written by former Community executive producers Neil Goldman & Garrett Donovan and actor-comedian-writer Ron Funches, co-star of the upcoming NBC/WBTV comedy series Powerless, There Goes the Neighborhood is about the first white family to move into a predominantly black, newly gentrifying neighborhood in Cleveland.
Doozer’s Lawrence and Jeff Ingold executive produce alongside SpringHill’s James and Maverick Carter as well as Goldman, Donovan, and Funches. Ohio born-and-raised James resides in his hometown of Akron near Cleveland as he plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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This marks a reunion for Lawrence and Goldman & Donovan. The duo were up-and-coming writers when Lawrence brought them to his NBC medical comedy series Scrubs after the pilot. The two remained on the show for its eight-season run on NBC, rising to executive producers. During that time, Lawrence, Goldman and Donovan also teamed to create the cult comedy Nobody’s Watching, which didn’t go on the air on the WB but became a viral hit when the pilot was leaked online. Goldman & Donovan recently wrote with Bob Daily the CBS comedy pilot Superior Donuts, which was just picked up to series for midseason.
Funches also has strong ties to Lawrence; he was one of the stars of the Lawrence-produced NBC/WBTV comedy series Undateable.
This is the second sale for SpringHill Entertainment in the company’s first TV development season under the expansive agreement it signed with Warner Bros. Entertainment last year for film, TV and digital projects. Also at NBC, SpringHill has a sports medicine drama with penalty. SpringHill’s series portfolio includes Starz basketball comedy Survivor’s Remorse, Disney XD’s inspirational series Becoming and reality series Cleveland Hustles on CNBC.
Doozer just got a pilot production commitment from NBC for a space comedy written by Undateable creator Adam Sztykiel, with several other projects in various stages.
There have been two major comedy series set in Cleveland so far, The Drew Carey Show on ABC and Hot In Cleveland on TV Land.
SpringHill Entertainment is repped by WME and Ziffren Brittenham. Doozer is repped by ICM Partners. Goldman and Donovan are repped by UTA.
