NBC has picked up a new scripted comedy series from talk show host Seth Meyers starring Glenn Howerton and Patton Oswalt. Meyers, of course, first made his name on NBC as the anchor of Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live before sliding over into his talk show Late Night with Seth Meyers in 2014. Taking on the occasional acting gig, Meyers' largely maintained a presence on-camera throughout his career, but now he appears ready to broaden his behind the scenes work again after executive producing the scripted animated comedy The Awesomes on Hulu from 2013-15.
According to THR, Meyers' sitcom A.P. Bio has been picked up to series at NBC. Meyers is one of executive producers of the half-hour sitcom, along with SNL producer Lorne Michaels and Andrew Singe. Late Night With Seth Meyers showrunner Michael Shoemaker is also one of the executive producers on the series.
THR says A.P. Bio will star Glenn Howertown (Dennis in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) as a philosophy scholar who takes a job as a high school Advanced Placement biology teacher when his bid for a dream job falls short. However, the new instructor makes it clear that he will not be teaching any biology, and uses his class full of honor students for his own purposes. In addition to Howertown and Oswalt, the single-camera comedy will also feature Lyric Lewis, Mary Sohn, Aparna Brielle, Jacob McCarthy and Nick Peine. SNL star Vanessa Bayer will also appear as a guest-star in the pilot episode.
While the series pick up of A.P. Bio is great news for Howerton, it may come as a discouraging development for fans of Always Sunny. Howerton was rumored to be leaving the show after Season 12 wrapped up last month because of his work on the NBC sitcom, and the last episode seemed to give the actor a satisfying departure from the FXX series. However, Howertown's co-star, Kaitlin Olsen, recently revealed that Always Sunny was taking a year off before it started production on Season 13 (the show will be back for a 14th season as well), so its cast members could work on other projects.
With any luck, Howerton — if he finds success on NBC with the first season of A.P. Bio — will be able to work on his new series and Always Sunny simultaneously when it goes back into production next year. Olsen has certainly done it working on Always Sunny and Fox's The Mick at the same time; while fellow cast members Charlie Day and Danny DeVito (who has Tim Burton's Dumbo and an Amazon comedy with Jeff Goldbum in the works) have been juggling the show with film projects for years.
Source: THR