Years ago, Wendi McClendon-Covey was a floundering 20-something working at what she has described as “a crappy hotel near Disneyland” where an old nightstand served as her desk, complete with a typewriter. Now The Goldbergs star will tap into her experiences for a comedy series project, which has landed at ABC with a script commitment plus significant penalty.
McClendon-Covey co-created and will co-write the single-camera comedy, tentatively titled Hospitality, with The McCarthys creator Brian Gallivan. In addition to The Goldbergs’ network, ABC, McClendon-Covey has teamed on the project with the series’ producers, Sony Pictures TV and studio-based Happy Madison.
Based on McClendon-Covey’s experiences working at the 3rd worst Ramada in Anaheim, the workplace comedy follows three women as band together against a terrible new boss in the world of 2-star hospitality.
McClendon-Covey and Gallivan executive produce with Happy Madison’s Doug Robinson and McClendon-Covey’s manager Gladys Gonzalez.
Over her parents’ objections to pursuing acting as a career, McClendon-Covey did that, leaving her hotel job behind. She rose to fame as one of the stars of Comedy Central’s Reno 911 and now stars on ABC’s The Goldbergs, which recently kicked off its fourth season as ABC Wednesday comedy block’s new 8 PM anchor. She is repped by UTA, manger Gladys Gonzalez and attorney David Krintzman.
Gallivan also has 29, a single-camera comedy about three generations of women based on Adena Halpern’s book, set at NBC with Sony TV and Davis Entertainment. He is repped by UTA.