Griffith TV bound in fall
CBS will order 13 sitcom segs or pay
Actress Melanie Griffith has signed on to star in a new CBS sitcom for fall from Witt-Thomas and CBS Prods.
"Me & George," Griffith's first TV series, is about a single mother of a young infant trying to balance her career as a press agent in New York. The Eye web has agreed to order 13 episodes or pay a large penalty.
Writer producer Terri Minsky ("Pearl") will write and executive produce the series, as will Witt-Thomas executive Nina Wass. The comedy will be produced in association with Griffith's production company, Green Moon Prods.
In addition to the TV portion of the pact, Warner Bros., which owns Witt-Thomas and has distribution rights to the new comedy, has agreed to give Griffith a pay-or-play film deal for doing the sitcom. The terms of the deal are fairly favorable to Griffith, because several networks were vying for the project, especially ABC, sources said.
Griffith is a well-known film actress who has starred in "Working Girl," "Body Double," "Something Wild" and "The Milagro Beanfield War." She will star opposite James Woods in the upcoming film "Another Day in Paradise," as well as in Woody Allen's "Celebrity" and "Crazy in Alabama," directed by and starring Antonio Banderas.
Her only prior network TV experience was in a CBS miniseries called "Buffalo Girls," which earned her a Golden Globe nomination. One of Griffith's reps said she decided to do a TV series so she could remain close to home, where she's raising her 16-month-old child.
She also "thinks TV is different, fresh and fun," the rep said. Griffith's deal was brokered by CAA's Emanuel Nunez, Bruce Vinokour and Rick Nicita, as well as her attorney, Cliff Gilbert-Lurie. Minksy is also repped by CAA.
