ABC has picked up a new pilot from comedy writers Diablo Cody, of Juno fame, and Greg Berlanti to make its debut next season called Raised By Wolves.
The pilot is the second comedy picked up by the network and the second pilot for Berlanti productions to be picked up by ABC. The first pilot picked up was for Deception, a drama surrounding a magician who falls on hard luck and uses his illusionary skills to consult with the FBI to solve extraordinary murders that seem to defy logic.
Berlanti has written and produced shows like Dawson’s Creek and Everwood and is extending himself into the comedy world with the guidance of Diablo Cody, who captured the modern teen with near perfection in the new classic, Juno. Cody has also created and written The United States of Tara as well as the deliciously campy teen-horror flick Jennifer’s Body.
The show is based off the U.K. series Raised By Wolves, which was aired by the BBC in 2015. It was written by Caitlin Moran, journalist and writer in the U.K., and her sister. The show chronicles Della Garry and her incredibly bizarre but lovable five kids and one bizarre but lovable immobile grandfather. It is loosely based off of their childhood experiences growing up in a household with eight kids.
The U.S. version will reportedly follow a family of five and their mother, Sheila Gable, as they deal with a meagre budget and eccentric personalities.
Berlanti Productions president, Sarah Schechter, saw the BBC series and wanted to be involved with making a version of the show for American audiences. She reached out to Cody to help develop the show sensing that Cody’s pitch-perfect sarcastic tone would be best to help craft each individually bizarre but sweet-sometimes-surly personalities.
Cody was enthusiastic about the series and offered to write the pilot script. Caitlin Moran gave notes as she adapted the Midlands to the Midwest, drawing from her own experiences growing up in Illinois.
The show finds itself well situated with ABC, who tend to have family-centric and blue collar families represented like The Middle or American Housewife.
Fans of Cody’s unique and unmistakable writing style will rejoice at having another series with a strong female lead to be a vessel for memorable lines for seasons to come. And with five different siblings all vying for validation and attention, the hilarity is bound to ensue.