NBC have picked up a thirteen episode, as yet untitled dark comedy from Tina Fey and her 30 Rock production partner and showrunner, Robert Carlock, starring spritely The Office alum, Ellie Kemper.
Kemper, who also charmed in her supporting role as a Type-A nut job in Bridesmaids, will play a woman who escapes life in a doomsday cult to start afresh in New York; a kind of Martha Marcy May Marlene meets the young prostitute from 30 Rock S05EP08, ‘The Tuxedo Begins’ (you know the one).
An NBC spokesperson described the series as “audacious, emotional and clever… We’re so happy that they’ve found another way to push the comedy envelope”. Defamer, however, are reporting that the original spec script centered around a girl who was abducted “by an Ariel Castro-type figure” but managed to escape. It’s understood the script received significant changes to make the material more palatable for NBC executives.
In related news, Fey currently has a number of projects under development alongside 30 Rock writers Matt Hubbard and Colleen McGuinness and has signed on to host the Golden Globes for the next two years.
The front-running New York-based, single-camera show will air during Fall 2014 on NBC and probably at some godforsaken hour on free-to-air here in 2016.
