Per Deadline, Hulu has greenlighted Phony, a comedy pilot starring Connie Britton (Nashville) and helmed by Nick Paley (Broad City). The series will be a coming-of-age mystery about a teenager, Sonny, who wakes up in the hospital after a car accident only to discover that his mother appears to have been replaced by an impostor. Britton will play Sonny’s single mom Ellen, and his school’s principal.
Hulu has recently been beefing up its comedy development efforts, as this is their third comedy pilot deal of the year. They gave a series order to Mid-Century Modern, starring Nathan Lane (The Gilded Age), Matt Bomer (Doom Patrol) and Linda Lavin (Bob’s Burgers), and to Downforce, starring Eve Hewson (The Perfect Couple) and Murray Bartlett (The Great North), which recently wrapped production.
Britton began her career on Ellen before landing a lead role opposite Michael J. Fox (The Good Fight) on Spin City. Phony will bring Britton back to her comedy roots after dramatic roles in series like Dear Edward and 9-1-1. She also recently starred in the first season of HBO’s The White Lotus, which earned her her fifth Emmy nomination and the first installment of Bravo/USA’s anthology series Dirty John. She is represented by CAA, Untitled Entertainment and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller.
Phony will be produced by Drew Goddard’s (The Good Place) company, Goddard Textiles and 20th Television. Goddard originally signed with 20th TV in 2019, which moved to sibling ABC Signature. Under the deal, he created the new breakout crime drama High Potential, starring Kaitlin Olson (Hacks). Goddard signed another first-look deal for Phony with ABC Signature, which is being transferred to 20th TV as ABC Signature was recently folded into the larger studio.
Britton and Paley will executive produce alongside Charlie Alderman (My Boyfriend is a Robot) of Charlie’s Production Company, Goddard and Sarah Esberg (The Third Day) via Goddard Textiles. Andrea Massaro (One True Loves) of Goddard Textiles will also produce.