It’s clearly the day that HBO has decided is most auspicious for announcing new comedy pilots. Hot on the heels of news about Paul Feig directing Goldie Hawn in The Viagra Diaries comes word that Ben Stiller has jumped aboard to star, direct, executive produce and run the electrical department* for All Talk.
Novelist Jonathan Safran Foer cooked up the concept and has written the script for the pilot, which will follow the daily dramas of a Jewish family in Washington, DC. Foer, whose book Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close is currently on screen in the US with Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock starring, has labelled the show “politically, religiously, culturally, intellectually and sexually irreverent.”
To add that little bit of extra class, Stiller’s Tower Heist co-star Alan Alda (already a telly legend thanks to the likes of M_A_S*H, ER and The West Wing) is in talks to co-star. And working behind the scenes will be Social Network producer and regular Stiller collaborator Scott Rudin.
According to Deadline, the pilot is currently pencilling in a late 2012 shoot, which presumably will allow Stiller to work on new film projects such as The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty and Noah Baumbach’s While We’re Young. He also just finished shooting action comedy Neighbourhood Watch, a moment that Jonah Hill marked on Twitter with a new pic of the main cast.
Though big film names have always been drawn HBO, we wonder how many episodes the ever-busy Stiller would shoot if the series gets picked up. Still, with shorter seasons than on network TV, there’s always the chance he’ll be able to juggle both.
*May not be 100% truth.