Back in April, we told you about a brand new comedy project FX was putting together that would feature an obscure premise, but had some big names involved. FX is typically a big fan of off-kilter comedy, and it’s no surprise the network would decide to move forward with the Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen project, which will be called Bigfoot. On Wednesday, the network ordered a pilot for the animated endeavor.
Bigfoot will be loosely based on a set of books written by Graham Roumieu, with titles like Me Write Book and I Not Dead. The Canadian Illustrator’s titles are not super well-known, but they did apparently find an audience in Rogen and Goldberg, who are bringing the crypto-zoological hominid to the small screen. In the books, Bigfoot’s just a guy with plenty of sensitivity toward existence and hopefully that personality will come across in the pilot.
Deadline reported the news, noting that there are a ton of names on board to produce Bigfoot. We’ve known for a while that American Dad’s Matt McKenna was signed on to write and executive produce, but Rogen and Goldberg will also executive produce, as will Roumieu, Mosaic’s Jimmy Miller and Sam Hansen, and Floyd County Prods’ Adam Reed and Matt Thompson. A project about Bigfoot that doesn’t involve some clowns running through the woods looking for the real thing might seem unlikely, but it certainly has some big names involved.
FX has always made comedy a priority at the network, although most of those comedies are not animated. Archer has proven to be the one exception to the rule, and the comedy has continually increased in the ratings on FX over its four seasons, ranking as the second most-watched program by men in the 18-34 demographic. There’s no doubt that animated comedies have the potential to thrive on the network; it’s just about finding the right project.
The outlet is also noting that FX has seven projects in development right now, including The Comedians and Death Pact. That might seem like a lot of scripted projects in development for a cable network, but it actually makes sense for FX, considering the network is branching off with sister network FXX very soon. With programming like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and more moving over, there should be some extra open slots in FX’s lineup. I’m not sure Bigfoot is an ideal project to head to series, but this development year is certainly a good time for people to throw their hats into the ring at the network.
