Bull's Eye targets laffs

Shingle has skeins 'Group,' 'Guy' in the works

By JOSEF ADALIAN, MICHAEL SCHNEIDER

Bull's Eye Entertainment, the shingle run by Tom Nunan, Cathy Schulman and Bob Yari, has started aggressively pursuing the TV sitcom world, setting up projects at several broadcast and cable outlets.

That includes the project "The Group," from Sony TV, Touchstone TV, Sean Bailey and scribe Jay Lacopo. Laffer revolves around a rock super group that brings in a female shrink to work through their dysfunctional relationships.

The company also has several small-screen dramas in the works -- including a TV version of the critically acclaimed Paul Haggis feature "Crash," which it produced.

Nunan said the company saw "an opportunity in comedy right now" and decided to hone its concentration to primarily the half-hour world.

"In the past, we've had a pretty broad slate of broadcast and cable hybrids, half-hours and one-hours," he said. "By focusing this season mostly on comedy, hopefully we'll do better. The main focus for us this year was to identify writing talent and the needs at the networks to bolster our comedy slate."

Given the early success of fall network entries such as "My Name Is Earl," Nunan said he was optimistic that the troubled sitcom form was on the road to comeback.

"It would be a crime if between all of us we couldn't cook up a huge comedy to work for American TV again," he said. "More importantly, given our unique position -- we have a very developed voice in the indie world -- we should be able to crack this with new ideas and new voices."

One of those shows could be "The Group," which Nunan is high on. The single-camera comedy, which was sold with a significant penalty, was inspired by the Metallica movie "X."

Project, which follows the bandmates as they realize it's too important for their business and their fans to break up, reunites Bull's Eye with Lacopo and Bailey, who last year worked together on the CBS pilot "All Grown Up."

"Jay's good at writing male thirtysomethings and their relationships," Nunan said. "The show will follow this shrink as she helps get these guys get their groove back."

Also at the Alphabet, Bull's Eye is developing the multi-camera laffer "The Guy Next Door," from creator Michael Davidoff. The scribe describes the concept as "Alexander Payne meets Bright-Kauffman-Crane": A Paul Giamatti-like character lives in an Lower East Side apartment next to a group of hip, "Friends"-like young adults.

"It's not a parody of 'Friends,' but it lets people who had a good time with that show sit and watch TV on the same couch as people who love 'Curb Your Enthusiasm,' " Nunan said.

At Fox, Bull's Eye has set up "Chicken or Beef?" a "Sliding Doors" style setup from "The Groundlings" alums Heather Morgan ("The Comeback") and Patrick Bristow (an actor from "Ellen"). Show includes two versions of a plot, with the reveal of what actually happened coming at the end of each episode.

"It's really difficult to find concepts that force the viewer to stay glued to the TV set; this does," Nunan said. "It's why 'Earl' is so successful -- you have to watch all the way through."

Bull's Eye also has moved the hybrid comedy "The Ant Hines Project," developed last season at Fox, to CBS and UPN. In an unusual move, the sibling nets are redeveloping the project together and will decide later where to put it.

Project comes from creator Hines, an alum of "Da Ali G Show," and because it deals with some of the same "gotcha" qualities as that HBO hit, the producers are mum on the exact concept.

"It's in the vein of mistaken identity -- hidden camera -- hybrid comedies," Nunan said. "Given how hard it is to take something that was shut down and move it to another network, this represents a real victory for us."

All four projects will be produced along side Sony Pictures TV, where Bull's Eye holds an overall deal through next year. Sony is also partnered with Bull's Eye on the ABC drama "Illusions," from Scott Shepherd.

That procedural drama revolves around a David Blaine-like illusionist who hunts for his wife's killer and teams with his sister-in-law, an FBI agent, to solve crimes. Bull's Eye is in talks with illusionists Penn & Teller about serving as consultants.

Bull's Eye's other dramas in development include "Surveillance," a Dan McDermott project under consideration at USA; and the one-hour adaptation of "Crash," in the works at FX.

Lions Gate TV is also on board the TV version of "Crash," along with Haggis and Bobby Moresco. Don Cheadle is on board to appear in several episodes in the first season.

Meanwhile, Nunan and Schulman -- who will exec produce all projects -- are looking for new financing in terms of overhead and indie film production.

Bob Yari, who is no longer a film partner with Nunan and Schulman, continues to work with the duo in TV until the Sony pact expires.

(Josef Adalian contributed to this report.)