Deadline: Daily Astronaut Family Comedy Lands At ABC With Pilot Production Commitment by Nellie Andreeva
EXCLUSIVE: In a very competitive situation, ABC has landed An Astronaut’s Guide To Life On Earth, a multi-camera comedy from Surviving Jack creators Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker with a pilot production commitment. The project, from Warner Bros TV — where the duo is under an overall deal — and 3 Arts Entertainment, is based on the memoir by Col. Chris Hadfield, a seasoned Canadian astronaut who became an Internet star with his videos from the International Space Station. (Watch one below.) The TV series is described as a family comedy about an astronaut who is back from space and finds that re-entering domestic life might be the hardest mission he’s ever faced. Halpern and Schumacker will write the script and executive produce with 3 Arts’ Erwin Stoff and Tom Lassally. Hadfield will serve as a consulting producer.
This is the third time Halpern and Schumacker, repped by ICM Partners, will be adapting a memoir into TV comedy series. Both of their previous efforts, CBS’ S#*! My Dad Says and Surviving Jack, were based on books by Halpern, and both went to series on CBS and Fox, respectively. Here is the trailer for Hadfield’s book, one of several An Astronaut’s Guide comedic videos by Hadfield.
Television Rights to NYT bestselling author Chris Hadfield's AN ASTRONAUT'S GUIDE TO LIFE ON EARTH, to ABC, from Warner Bros. TV, with 3 Arts Entertainment (PARKS AND RECREATION, SILICON VALLEY) producing and Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker (SURVIVING JACK) writing, by Sean Daily at Hotchkiss and Associates on behalf of Rick Broadhead of Rick Broadhead & Associates.