Viacom’s TV Land announced that it has given the greenlight to “I Shudder,” a comedy pilot starring Hamish Linklater and written by Paul Rudnick.
Billed as a “dark comedy,” the series focused on a meticulous but generous man who sees the world in very black and white terms: what is acceptable, and what is unacceptable. Dan Jinks and Rudnick will executive produce.
Linklater stars as Elyot Vionnet, an advocate of common decency. Observing people committing heinous crimes of etiquette, he tries to counsel them from afar, inserting himself into their lives in most unwelcome fashion. When the individuals he deems classless choose not to take his advice, they are met with terrible consequences. In the midst of his mission, Elyot allies himself with his neighbor, an 11-year-old girl named Stella, to try to make the world better, one tactless person at a time.
“This pilot is a unique dark dramedy, and is truly outside the box for TV Land,” said Keith Cox, executive vice president of development and original programming for TV Land. “We’re excited to explore new paths of genres for the network as we continue to evolve.”
The network, once known for its schedules filled with old TV comedies and newer sitcoms that mirrored their elements, has shifted the focus of its original series to appeal to the “Gen X” demo, broadly defined as those born between 1965 and 1980. That move reflects the fact that so-called “Baby Boomers” are fast aging out of the 25-54 demographic, which remains TV Land’s target.
“I Shudder” is the latest in a line of new programs that TV Land has put on its slate or in development, including the recently renewed Darren Star comedy “Younger”; “The Jim Gaffigan Show”; “Impastor”; “Teachers”; and an untitled John Wells/John Riggi/Warner Horizon Television project inspired by the life of Kyle Richards.
