EXCLUSIVE : CBS is advancing the development of two single-camera comedy projects, DMV , from the 9JKL team of co-creator/showrunner Dana Klein, Kapital Entertainment and TrillTV, and Eternally Yours (working title), from Joe Port and Joe Wiseman, creators/showrunners of the CBS version of Ghosts , and The Tannenbaum Company.
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The network has given a pilot order to DMV and has commissioned a development room for Eternally Yours , both produced by CBS Studios. Port and Wiseman, who have been under an overall deal at CBS Studios since the breakout success of Ghosts , are staying in the supernatural comedy space with Eternally Yours , which revolves around a family of vampires.
The orders are in line with comments CBS Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach made in January and reiterated in June when she said she was expecting to pick up some development rooms and “potentially even a comedy pilot or two” over the summer.
It follows CBS’ decision not to order pilots during the traditional pilot season for the first time this year as it shifts to a long-term development strategy.
“I like to say that we’re just not being beholden to a certain calendar,” Reisenbach said in June . “In terms of pilots or going straight-to-series, or maybe picking up development rooms and all of that, we want to be bespoke in the way that we do our R&D on shows.”
CBS has used a mix of these different development paths for its crop of new scripted series for the 2024-25 season and the one series, drama Sheriff Country, already picked up for 2025-26 under the network’s long-term strategy. Drama Matlock and comedy Poppa’s House originated as pilots; Kapital’s Watson started off as a development room, while NCIS: Origins , Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage and Sheriff’s Country were straight-to-series orders based off characters on existing CBS shows.
This marks CBS’ first single-camera comedy pilot since 2022 when The Hug Machine did not go to series. The network’s two new comedy series for next season are both multi-cam, Poppa’s House and the Young Sheldon spinoff Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.
Despite the financial challenges of producing single-camera comedies for broadcast vs. the more budget friendly multi-cams, CBS has remained committed to the genre where it has had great success recently with Young Sheldon and Ghosts . As Deadline reported , the network just put into development single-camera workplace comedy Area 51.
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Written by Klein based on author Katherine Heiny’s short story, DMV is a workplace comedy set at the place everyone dreads going most: the DMV. Our quirky and lovable characters are making minimum wage, doing a thankless job where customers are annoyed before they even walk in the door. Good thing they have each other.
Klein executive produces with Kapital’s Aaron Kaplan, Trill TV’s Wendi Trilling and Anonymous Content’s Robyn Meisinger.
This marks the latest collaboration between Kapital and Klein who worked together on two on-air series, Friends With Better Lives and 9JKL, the latter also produced by TrillTV, Kapital’s partner on long-running CBS sitcom The Neighborhood.
The pilot order for DMV also follows two recent series orders for Kapital, for drama Watson at CBS and The Neighborhood spinoff Crutch starring Tracey Morgan at Paramount+.
Written and executive produced by Port and Wiseman, Eternally Yours (working title) is an eternal love story about two vampires who have been married for five hundred years, and their struggles to accept the human who is dating their daughter.
Port and Wiseman executive produce alongside Eric Tannenbaum, Kim Tannenbaum and Jason Wang of The Tannenbaum Co. The project, which has been heating up at CBS for the past couple of months, was set up before the Tannenbaums, executive producers of CBS’ comedy hit Two and a Half Men, set up shop at Lionsgate Television.
Friends alumna Klein is repped by UTA and Jackoway Austen Tyerman. Known as “the Joes,” Port and Wiseman have worked on The Office, New Girl, The Odd Couple and Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist . They are repped by UTA, Mosaic and Myman Greenspan Fox. Heiney is repped by Anonymous Content and Inkwell Management.
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