This is a list of new comedy pilots that have been announced by production companies (or well-known comedy writers). These projects are listed here because we either don't yet know whether the project will make it to the broadcast stage (most pilots are never seen), or because we don't yet have enough details to create a full guide to the show. Pilots that are definitely going to be broadcast can be found on our new comedy list.
Jason Byrne's Beer And Pizza Club
A non-broadcast run-through of a new ITV4 comedy panel show filmed at an Islington pub. Jason Byrne interviews celebrity guests, with plenty of banter and music. Xfm presenter Dave Berry was the guest for this pilot. The show is produced by Dan Baldwin, with Victoria Payne and Dave Morley. It's a Talkback Thames production.
Seymour's Corner
Pilot created by stand-up Seymour Mace... Seymour's Corner is all about having fun. Fun for the performers, fun for the studio audience, fun for the people at home and fun for any random idiot who manages to pick up radio waves on their false teeth. It's a game show with items such as Today's Biscuit, The Telephone to Anyone and Silly Singing.
Seymour's Corner is... Full Details
Lee Mack Variety Show
Lee Mack was quoted as saying in March 2010: "I'm trying to get my own variety series off the ground, which I'm doing a pilot for. It's early doors but I would be presenting my own show as opposed to being in a sitcom. I don't know what it is yet, but basically it's a variety show with a bit of stand up and sketches."
Jason Byrne Sitcom
In this pilot episode, Jason starts a new life as a house husband looking after the kids and doing a few domestic chores - what could be simpler? Written by and starring Jason Byrne, others lined up include Sharon Horgan, Pauline McLynn, Michael Smiley, Paul Nicholas and Peter Gowen.
They Drink It In The Congo
A comedy panel show pilot for ITV1. Comics and celebrities team up to take part in a light hearted quiz that celebrates all things funny from around the world. Presented by Paddy McGuinness with Rhod Gilbert & Sarah Millican as team captains. Produced by Rough Cut Productions.
Ask Rhod Gilbert
Rhod Gilbert hosts Ask Rhod Gilbert, an uplifting comedy show for BBC1 with a very simple mantra - "Every good question deserves an answer, and so do all the stupid ones".
During the show, a special guest star will discuss with Rhod & two guest comedians the possible answers to comical questions, such as "Can dogs blow?". Greg Davies was one of the comedians taking part... Full Details
Will & Greg: Wireless
Radio 4 sketch show pilot starring Will & Greg, aka Will Andrews and Greg McHugh. A Comedy Unit production for the BBC. The producer is Gus Beattie.
Attack the Block
Sitcom from Big Talk Productions. A gang of South London teenagers defending their housing project home against an alien attack. Written and directed by Joe Cornish. The producers are Nira Park and James Wilson and the Executive Producers are Matthew Justice, Edgar Wright, Tessa Ross, Will Clarke and Jenny Borgars.
Dilemma
Dilemma is a Radio 4 comedy pilot hosted by Sue Perkins. It poses a series of moral and ethical dilemmas to a panel of comics, journalists and other great thinkers of our time.
For example, "Would you cheat on your spouse for a million pounds?"; "Would rather live in perfect bliss for ten years or general contentment for thirty?"; "Would you, on the balance of things,... Full Details
Desperate Fishwives
Television pilot of the BBC Radio Scotland sketch show Desperate Fishwives. Stars include John Hardie and Craig Pike.
Cinema
Cinema is a live audience Radio 2 sitcom pilot created by Men Behaving Badly writer Simon Nye. It centres around Alex, a well-meaning but rather pretentious cinema manager, who is determined to bring highbrow films to his local town.
However, opposed by his surly projectionist, Neil, who would rather be doing anything other than sitting in a small projection room, and... Full Details
That Band
Sitcom starring ex-soap stars Bruce Jones (Corrie), Scott Wright (Corrie), Lee Otway (Hollyoaks, Peter Amory (Emmerdale) and Suzanne Collins (Brookside).
The comedy follows Overdrive - an X Factor-style boyband made up of highly-sexed but useless singers who fail in a TV talent contest. The producers describe it as "like Skins meets... Full Details
Lucy Montgomery's Radio Show
Lucy Montgomery's Radio Show is a multi-paced, one-woman Fast Show for Radio 4 showcasing the talent of Lucy Montgomery.
The Rob Brydon Show
Rob Brydon hosts a non-broadcast pilot of The Rob Brydon Show - an entertainment show for BBC Two that mixes stand-up, live sketches, music and celebrity guests.
Rob, with help from an ensemble cast, celebrity guests and a specially hand-picked audience will showcase his and the best of today's talent with one thing in mind: to entertain.
The Ten Show
Adrian and a hand picked team of special guests will discuss and debate three of the top stories dominating the week’s headlines. From politics to celebrity, Adrian and his able team will each provide their unique opinions on the stories that have the country talking, whilst having a laugh along the way. Produced by Avalon Televion.
The Academy
This mockumentary sitcom pilot stars Sir Ian McKellen as his own (fictional) brother. Murray McKellen, head of the equally fictional Clapham Academy of Creative Arts (CACA), invites cameras into his beloved school in an attempt to raise its profile - and its bank balance - in the tough economic times.
Produced by Humphrey Barclay for DLT Entertainment (best known as the company... Full Details
It's Debatable
Jon Richardson hosts a new pilot for a Radio 4 comedy series where he tries to persuade the audience that what initially appears to be a far fetched or outrageous view he's passionate about is actually really rather a good idea! Being an OCD sufferer Jon has strong views about life - but will he be able to convince the audience his views are sensible?
Mrs Brown
TV adaptation of the stage show. Brendan O'Carroll stars as Mrs Brown, a Dublin matriarch who is struggling to cope with all the problems of her wayward family. And their biggest problem is Mrs Brown herself - she just can't stop interfering in their lives. The BBC describes the show as: "Think Dame Edna meets The Royle Family meets Father Ted."
Samantha Martin Sitcom
Samantha Martin (The Kevin Bishop Show) has written a sitcom pilot described as The Twits meets War of the Roses.
Joe Mistry
Ben Ockrent, the writer of Material Girl, is creating a BBC Three comedy called Joe Mistry, which is about a teenager who lives with his mum.
Things Can Only Get Better
Topical comedy show hosted by Jack Dee with Sean Lock, Lee Mack and special guests.
The Monday Show
A new comedy pilot for BBC1 starring Alexander Armstrong and celebrity guests, looking ahead to the events of the coming week in an upbeat entertaining mix of studio chat and location reports. Produced by Have I Got News For You producers Hat Trick Productions. Guests on the pilot included Jon Richardson and Graham Fellows as spoof singer John Shuttleworth.
My Radio Show
Not-for-broadcast comedy show pilot created by Dan Schreiber, the producer of The Museum Of Curiosity. The show is recorded like a morning breakfast radio show - with music, guests, "text in your thoughts" moments and such like.
The pilot was hosted by Schreiber and featured guests Rhys Darby, John Lloyd, Finnish stand-up Ismo Leikola and science writer John Gribbin. For... Full Details
Public Enemy No. 1
Public Enemy No. 1, hosted by Eamonn Holmes, is a topical comedy show based on opinion rather than fact. Whose opinions? The opinions of loud-mouthed celebrities, the studio audience, and the Great British Public. Who do they love? Who do they hate? Who would they like to see shoved in a wheelie bin and fired into space?
It is billed as a "hilarous, inclusive show with... Full Details
Jo Caulfield sitcom
Currently un-titled sitcom pilot written by Jo Caulfield based on her previous Edinburgh Shows, Jo Caulfield - Two-Faced Bitch & Jo Caulfield Goes To Hell. It's best described as "a sitcom about a woman of a certain age with a sort of marriage and a kind of family and a bunch of friends, just trying to get through the day with going bonkers or opening that second bottle".... Full Details
What A Carve Up! [TV Version]
Jeremy Dyson (The League of Gentlemen) is adapting Jonathan Coe's satirical novel What a Carve Up! for Channel 4. Published in 1994, the novel is an attack on the Thatcher era, based around a writer who is commissioned to produce a biography about a right-wing upper class British family obsessed with making money, often in dubious ways. In 2005, the story was adapted for Radio 4 by... Full Details
Beth Becomes Her
A television version of Beth Becomes Her, the Fringe show by Bethany Black, the UK's "foremost goth, lesbian, post-op transsexual stand-up". The producer is Paul Schlesinger. Black will star as herself. More info
Count Arthur Strong's Television Show!
A TV version of Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show. Creator Steve Delaney is working with Graham Linehan and Jeremy Dyson to adapt the radio series for Talkback Thames, with hopes it will be screened on BBC4.
Nebulous (TV Version)
Graham Duff is working on a pilot script for a TV version of his sci-fi Radio 4 sitcom Nebulous, which stars Mark Gatiss, Rosie Cavaliero and Paul Putner.
The Sharp End
Sitcom pilot based around a consumer watchdog radio show starring Alistair McGowan and Michelle Gomez. Written by Ian Stone and Tom Craine. Created by Unique Productions.
Trigger Happy Movie
Dom Joly is working on a movie version of his hit Channel 4 show Trigger Happy TV. He told The Mirror in June 2009: "We have just written a script for a Trigger Happy movie actually, I have just got the first draft - it's weird to write a script because you can't, because it's all kind of made up," he said. "It's really funny, I'm really excited about it. We are gonna have a go at... Full Details
Honky Tonk
A one-off 60-minute comedy drama about two young people with Down's syndrome who run away to get married at Gretna Green. Honky Tonk's plot follows Henry and Michelle, two 20-somethings who are in love and spend their days at a centre for disabled adults. Henry is assured while at the centre, but overwhelmed by shyness in other situations and self-conscious about how his voice sounds to... Full Details
Abi Hour
An audience sketch show with Abi Burdess, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Lu Caulfield and Tom Price. A mixture of high concept one-off sketches and returning characters. Abi Burdess has a distinctive, dark but daft voice and an enormously inventive range of sketches developed during several live shows both individually and as Live! at the Mausoleum.
Four Generations
Pilot sitcom from Matt Lucas based on his experiences growing up as a jew in Stanmore, North London. Lucas has said: "I want to produce a sitcom that will address many of the contemporary issues that affect British Jews such as intermarriage and a decline in observance".
Silver Acres
Pilot sitcom from playwrights Ed Waugh and Trevor Wood. Set in a sleepy County Durham hamlet, the plot revolves around a former trade unionist moving to the sleepy conservative village, much to the dismay of its self-appointed guardians. Other character include a wealthy womaniser, an insane survivalist and a man-child who still lives with his domineering mother.
Anna And Katy Salute You
A showcase of characters from Anna Crilly and Katy Wix on the 2nd and 3rd March 2009 at The Drill Hall for a forthcoming TV project. See also: The Anna and Katy Show for Radio 2.
Cousins
A comedy drama by Sanjeev Kohli (Fags, Mags And Bags; Still Game) which is described as an 'Asian Cold Feet'. Kohli told The Stage it would be a 'very British comedy that just happens to have Asians in it. They are cousins, five people who have grown up together, and see each other every week - at the temple or for a pub quiz - who happen to be Asian, which gives you all kind... Full Details
Four Lions
A Chris Morris (Brass Eye, The Day Today) film about terrorism. The project has been delayed for a number of years due to funding problems, however it is now being reported that FilmFour have agreed to back the controversial project (More info). Morris describes the film as showing the "Dads Army" side of... Full Details
Working Class
A new sitcom for BBC Scotland about senior citizens written by Donald McLeary from Radio 4's Fags, Mags and Bags. The Stage reports a script for the series, which will be aimed at a pre-watershed family audience, has been commissioned by the BBC but, at the time of writing, no roles have been cast. The pilot will be produced by The Comedy Unit. More details can be found via The Stage's... Full Details
Simon Says
Simon Munnery delivers his low down on life. Using stand-up comedy, music, and top comedy guest, Reginald D Hunter, the programme tackles some of life's big issues.
Playing Shop
A new live audience studio sitcom written by and starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb. They play Eric and Jamie, two of the most dynamic, practical and driven men ever to try and run a business out of a garden shed. Convinced that everyone else involved in commerce are idiots, they think that this insight alone will make them millionaires.
To such men, redundancy is just an... Full Details
Life And Other Distractions
New 13-part comedy drama written and produced by Simon Pegg. The show will be a light drama about a family aimed at younger viewers, Pegg told The Guardian. "My involvement will be limited but I want to be a showrunner and have script control. I was interested in that age group, having grown up with shows like Grange Hill, and I wanted to do something outside my comfort zone. It's... Full Details
Jim Jeffries Sitcom
Sitcom starring controversial Australian comedian Jim Jeffries. The half-hour pilot, which is being made for Paramount Comedy, sees Jeffries play a foul-mouthed software millionaire. Broadcast says his character is "searching for meaning in his life, but he only ever ends up having meaningless sex with attractive women and shows little consideration for his friends who still have to earn... Full Details
Cemetery Junction
A new film project written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. The film follows the exploits of two salesmen pals working for insurance giant Prudential in Reading in the 1970s. It is a 'coming-of-age' tale about the two friends growing up in the concrete 'glamour' of Reading. It is being described as Mad Men meets The Office. Filmed in the Summer of 2009.
Note:... Full Details
Home
Little Britain star David Walliams has been working with Rob Brydon on this sitcom script. The plan is for Walliams and Brydon to play two constantly bickering brothers who run a care home. Ronnie Corbett will also star as a playboy OAP - the only male resident in the home which is otherwise populated by female pensioners.
This pilot has been on our list for about four years... Full Details
Shush
Sitcom pilot described as 'a stupid narrative comedy set in a municipal library'. Originally piloted in 2006, a second pilot was filmed in October 2008.
The comedy is produced by Armando Iannucci and written by Morwenna Banks, Rebecca Front and Father Ted writer Arthur Mathews.
The original un-successful pilot for the show was recorded at BBC TV Centre in... Full Details