FX, Farrellys team to push 'Unhitched'

Network to air 'Shallow Hal', 'Fever Pitch'

By CYNTHIA LITTLETON

Craig Bierko stars as Gator in the Farrelly brothers' new sitcom, 'Unhitched.'

FX is pitching in to help its sibling net Fox give a good kickoff to new comedy "Unhitched," which hails from the Farrelly brothers and 20th Century Fox TV.

FX is running two Farrelly brothers pics, 2001's "Shallow Hal" and 2005's "Fever Pitch," tonight from 8 p.m.-midnight in a block that will include interstitial segments of brothers Peter and Bobby Farrelly riffing on those movies and, of course, tubthumping Sunday's preem of "Unhitched" in the 9:30 p.m. slot behind "Family Guy." Interstitials also feature "Unhitched" stars Rashida Jones and Craig Bierko and, of course, generous clips from the series.

Fox and FX have been particularly cozy of late in cross-promoting each other's series. Last month, FX showcased its older sib's "Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles" in its airing of "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines." And in recent weeks, Fox's air has been full of promo blurbs for the March 2 sophomore season bow of FX's "Dirt."

The process of filming the interstitials was "painless" for the Farrelly brothers, once they threw out the script that had been prepared for them, according to Peter Farrelly. So has the process of shepherding the production of "Unhitched's" first six segs, albeit from afar much of the time as they continue to work on film projects.

"We came on to do the pilot because the script came from three good buddies ("Unhitched" co-exec producers Chris Pappas, Michael Bernier and Kevin Barnett) and we thought it was really funny, so we decided to stay on and help with other episodes," Farrelly said. "I love TV. To be able to pop in and write and direct two or three episodes a year -- that would be ideal."