Amazon Greenlights First Pilots

Studio to produce six comedy projects for Prime Instant Video

By Andrea Morabito -- Broadcasting & Cable, 12/20/2012 12:08:07 PM

Amazon Studios on Thursday said it has ordered six comedy series pilots, the studios' first pilot production commitment since announcing its foray into original programming development earlier this year.

Once completed, the pilots will be posted on Amazon Instant Video for customers to watch for free, with viewer feedback helping to determine which will be picked up to series. Full seasons will be available exclusively to Prime members and Lovefilm in the U.K. for free.

The pilots come from talent behind such well-known media as the Doonesbury comics, The Daily Show, The Big Bang Theory and The Onion News Network as well as newcomers discovered through the studios' open-door development process.

The comedy pilot descriptions are below:

Alpha House
Alpha House was written by Academy Award nominee and Pulitzer-Prize winner Garry Trudeau (Doonesbury, Tanner '88). Alpha House follows four senators who live together in a rented house in Washington, D.C.  

Browsers
Written by 12-time Emmy-winning comedy writer David Javerbaum (The Daily Show) and to be directed by Don Scardino (30 Rock), Browsers is a musical comedy set in contemporary Manhattan that follows four young people as they start their first jobs at a news website.

Dark Minions
Written by Big Bang Theory co-stars Kevin Sussman and John Ross Bowie, Dark Minions is an animated workplace series about two slackers just trying to make a paycheck working on an intergalactic warship. The pilot will be produced by Principato-Young (Reno 911).

The Onion Presents: The News
The Onion Presents: The News is a smart, fast-paced scripted comedy set behind the scenes of The Onion News Network that shows just how far journalists will go to stay at the top of their game. The Onion Presents: The News is from The Onion's Will Graham and Dan Mirk (The Onion News Network, The Onion Sportsdome).

Supanatural
Supanatural is an animated comedy series about two outspoken divas who are humanity's last line of defense against the supernatural, when they're not working at the mall. The series, written by Lily Sparks, Price Peterson and Ryan Sandoval, will be produced by Jason Micallef (Butter) and Kristen Schaal (The Daily Show).

Those Who Can't
Written by Andrew Orvedahl, Adam Cayton-Holland and Benjamin Roy (Grawlix), who were discovered through Amazon Studios online open door process, Those Who Can't is a comedy about three juvenile, misfit teachers who are just as immature, if not more so, than the students they teach.