'Bernie Mac Show' Creator Moves to NBC

[TJ]

http://tv.zap2it.com/news/tvnewsdaily.html?30812

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Larry Wilmore wasn't out of work for long.

The creator of "The Bernie Mac Show," who was fired from the FOX show last month, has signed a development deal with NBC Studios. The agreement with NBC's producing arm runs for two years.

"With this guy's brains and ability to look at life with a tremendously skewed point of view, he can take any sitcom genre ... and run with it," NBC Studios President Ted Harbert tells The Hollywood Reporter.

NBC has wanted to work with Wilmore since at least last year, when network executives approached him about developing a new show. Wilmore's work on "Bernie Mac" didn't allow for any additional projects at the time.

FOX let Wilmore go in mid-March after a protracted disagreement over the direction of the series, which is loosely based on star Bernie Mac's experience in helping raise his sister's children. The unconventional, single-camera comedy has won a Peabody Award, and Wilmore won an Emmy in 2002 for writing the pilot episode.

Wilmore's other credits include "The PJs," "In Living Color" and "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."