Stiller, CBS down home for Taylor-tailored comedy

By Nellie Andreeva

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Ben Stiller is teaming
with CBS for a comedy project to star his wife, actress
Christine Taylor.

Stiller is set to direct and executive produce the pilot
and will play a recurring role on the potential series.

CBS has committed to a pilot for the as-yet-untitled
project, to be written by Ajay Sahgal. The network is
fast-tracking it for potential summer production as part of its
aggressive push to court new projects outside the traditional
development cycle.

The comedy, being considered for single-camera treatment
rather than the three-camera sitcom approach, is based on
Taylor’s life.

“She is a small-town girl who has found her way into
Hollywood but still retains a lot of the values and humility
(of her upbringing),” CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler
said. “There are times when she is befuddled by her status —
being an actress married to a big movie star.”

On the show, Taylor’s character will juggle career and
family while many relatives from her hometown remain very
involved in her life. Stiller will play her husband.

Taylor and Sahgal are familiar faces at CBS. Taylor has
starred in several pilots for the network, including “The
Commuters” and “Harry’s Girl.”

“We love her,” Tassler said. “And we are over the moon”
about working with Stiller,” she said.

Sahgal penned CBS’ comedy pilot “The Angriest Man in
Suburbia” this past development season.

For Stiller, the deal marks the most significant series
commitment since the actor’s Emmy-winning 1992 comedy/variety
show on Fox.

In September, Stiller is slated to begin shooting the
DreamWorks feature “Seven Day Itch,” from the writing-directing
team of Peter and Bobby Farrelly (.” He next stars in “Night at
the Museum” for 20th Century Fox and director Shawn Levy.

On the small screen, he most recently did several episodes
of Fox’s Emmy-winning comedy “Arrested Development.”

Taylor, who also did multiple episodes of “Arrested,” most
recently starred on ABC’s comedy pilot “52 Fights” this
development season. She appeared with Stiller on the big screen
in 2004′s “Dodgeball” and in “Zoolander” (2001), which he
directed and co-wrote.

Her upcoming big-screen projects include the Ken
Kwapis-directed comedy “License to Wed,” from Warner Bros.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter