Martin, Schiff join CBS' 'Girlfriends'

'Cavemen' vets named series' showrunners

By MICHAEL SCHNEIDER

Argentine telenovela 'Lalola' is being recast as a Fox pilot with the tentative title 'Eva Adams.'

Bill Martin and Mike Schiff ("Grounded for Life") have been named exec producer-showrunners of CBS comedy project "We Need Girlfriends."

Also Monday, Fox gave a pilot order to the tentatively titled "Eva Adams," Kevin Falls' take on the Argentine telenovela "Lalola."

Martin and Schiff join "We Need Girlfriends" under their recently signed overall deal with Sony Pictures TV, which is behind the laffer.

Based on a series of YouTube videos, "We Need Girlfriends" centers on three recent college grads who enter the Gotham dating scene after all of their girlfriends dump them at once.

Sony-based Darren Star is also exec producing. Steven Tsapelas, Angel Acevedo and Brian Amyot created the original Web series. Dennis Erdman and Clark Peterson are also exec producers.

Besides "Grounded for Life," Martin and Schiff's credits include "Cavemen" and "3rd Rock From the Sun."

As for "Eva Adams," the hourlong project revolves around a womanizing lothario who somehow turns into a woman -- and learns what it's like to experience the kind of abuse he used to dole out. Project is set in the world of sports management in addition to fashion.

Falls wrote the adaptation and will exec produce; Jamie Tarses is also exec producer. Sony Pictures TV is behind the project, which is based on the Dori Media Intl. format. Fox had previously picked up the project as a put pilot; new move bumps it up to full-fledged pilot status.

Dori Media Group began pitching the format in the fall as a "new type of telenovela," eschewing the genre's usual rich-poor love story in favor of something more contemporary and faster-paced (Daily Variety, Sept. 1).

"Lalola," which originally aired on Argentina's America TV, is also being adapted locally for TV in the Philippines.

Other projects in the works at Fox include the musically driven entry "Glee"; Sam Baum entry "Lie to Me," starring Tim Roth; the Paul Attanasio drama "Courtroom K"; the space thriller "Virtuality"; the comedy "Boldly Going Nowhere"; the Wilmer Valderrama vehicle "The Emancipation of Ernesto"; and the Shaun Cassidy entry "Inseparable."