Eye in bed with couple

Stiller, Taylor pair fly to CBS

By JOSEF ADALIAN

Ben Stiller is returning to television, exec producing and directing a half-hour comedy for CBS that will star his wife, Christine Taylor.

Eye has given a pilot commitment to the project, which will be loosely based on Taylor's life.

Stiller won't be a series regular, but he is expected to make guest appearances on the show should it get picked up to series.

Ajay Sahgal ("It's a Shame About Ray") will write the pilot and serve as exec producer. Eye sister studio CBS Paramount Network Television will produce.

Project is about an actress married to a movie star who contends with her family members and their involvement in her life. Stiller and Taylor have two kids, but the character will not be a mom.

Deal came together late last week, while much of the town was on vacation. CBS Entertainment prexy Nina Tassler was key in getting the deal done.

Stiller's last TV helming gig was 1999's "Heat Vision and Jack," a half-hour comedy pilot for Fox starring Jack Black, the voice of Owen Wilson and Taylor. Pilot has developed a bit of a cult following, generating hundreds of thousands of hits on YouTube over the last few months.

It's been widely reported that Stiller and Taylor met while working on "Heat Vision." Stiller's first work as a helmer came on his early 1990s Fox sketch comedy "The Ben Stiller Show."

In addition to "Heat Vision," Taylor also worked with Stiller on "Dodgeball" and "Zoolander." She appeared in "The Commuters," a 2005 CBS drama pilot.

Taylor also toplined this spring's ABC comedy pilot "52 Fights."

Sahgal's pilot credits include this spring's "Angriest Man in Suburbia" and the twice-developed "Nevermind Nirvana."