With big screen funny folks like Jason Segel and Kat Dennings scoring big hits on TV with "How I Met Your Mother" and "2 Broke Girls," another comic actor is making the small screen leap. Christopher Mintz-Plasse will take the lead in the new CBS comedy "Friend Me." Penned by Alan Kirschenbaum ("Raising Hope") and Ajay Sahgal, the show will center on two friends, Evan (Mintz-Plasse) and Rob (Nicholas Braun of "Red State" fame), who move from Indiana to L.A. to work for GroupOn. That still doesn't explain why it's called "Friend Me" but maybe Facebook didn't clear their brand for the show. Sounds like it's right in the geeky wheelhouse that has made "The Big Bang Theory" such a smash hit, so this has potential. The series is currently at the pilot stage. [Deadline]
Questions also abound for a series based on "Angry Birds," the cell phone game app created by Rovio. A new animated series was announced at MipTV, but the question remains about where the show will be broadcast. According to Rovio's head of animation Nick Dorra, the 52 episodes, all running about 2-and-a-half to 3 minutes in length, will appear anywhere and everywhere. "We want to be present on all possible screens," said Dorra, who said the animation route will aid in "telling more engaging stories…and deeper thoughts, deeper feelings of the characters, such as, why are they always angry?"
Dorra also revealed that the show will not replace the proposed "Angry Birds" movie, but also won't help expedite the big screen adaptation either. "It’s in development, but it won’t be out in 2013 or 2014," said Dorra of the film. Former Marvel chairman David Maisel was hired last June to help build the company's entertainment strategy and executive produce the film. [Deadline]
In TV news not coming from MipTV, Bravo, the home of the "Real Housewives…" series of shows, just got a bit classier with their most recent acquisition. The network has grabbed the television rights to the Sundance documentary "The Queen of Versailles," which won director Lauren Greenfield the Sundance Documentary Directing Award in January. Greenfield spent 3 years with Florida billionaires Jackie and David Siegel, who were beginning to build the largest home in America when the housing market crashed. Greenfield admitted that her doc and Bravo "seems like a perfect match, and there could not be a more interesting audience for this film."
Magnolia Pictures purchased the film rights to "The Queen of Versailles" after its Sundance debut, and is planning a theatrical release in the summer. Bravo will premiere the movie on its channel in 2013. [THR]
