Porn and Man-children: In a major departure from his usual fare, Seth Rogen will team up with writing partner Evan Goldberg to bring Showtime a comedy series about a three childish twentysomethings who experience life and relationships while working at a porno shop. Matthew Bass, who is credited as an assistant to the two on both Pineapple Express and Superbad, will write the script. The show is part of Showtime’s new initiative to blur the line between its original programming and its low-budget soft-core porn shows. [Variety]
Return of the Klumps: Universal and Imagine Entertainment are in early talks to bring the Nutty Professor back to the big screen. Mr. Klump himself, Eddie Murphy, is not yet attached to the new flick, and his eventual involvement will be contingent on the director and the script. Speaking of which, there’s an open call out for writers who have a take on where the Klumps should go for this third installment of the profitable franchise. In our version, which we’ll be messaging over to Universal today, they go to the doctor to deal with their chronic flatulence. [HR]
Fat Man and a Little Coke: Rotund long-haired actor Dan Fogler will play rotund long-haired comic Sam Kinison in HBO’s biopic of the foul-mouthed funnyman, Brother Sam. The film is based on the book Brother Sam: The Short, Spectacular Life of Sam Kinison, written by Kinison’s brother. The writer-directors of American Splendor, Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, are writing the screenplay. The prop department is already working overtime to make the huge amounts of fake cocaine it’s going to need. [Variety]
Black People Join NBC: The Peacock is developing a sitcom based on comic Nick Adams’s book Making Friends With Black People that the network hopes will succeed in the wake of America’s first black president. The half-hour show will center on two men, one black and one white, who become close friends but share differing viewpoints. Expect this to be Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s favorite show. [Variety
Superman: The Western: Just when you thought Dean Cain had become completely irrelevant, he signs on to star in a Hallmark Channel original and proves you right. He will star in Kingdom Come, a western that has Cain playing a con man who competes for land and love with a character played by James Tupper. Winning competitions of love is never easy when you’re faster than a speeding bullet. Get it? [Variety]
Monkey See, Monkey Kill: Sammo Hung is in talks to star in War Monkeys, an outlandish horror comedy about war and monkeys. Directed by Kevin Munroe of TMNT fame, the Dark Horse flick will tell the story of two janitors who get trapped in a underground research facility after accidentally releasing military-trained Rhesus monkeys. They must then battle the primates for their lives. Monroe is especially excited about the project, saying, “Monkeys, guns, explosions. As a genre freak, I couldn’t ask for anything more.†And neither could we. [HR]