ABC has 'Friends With Benefits'

Imagine TV, Dobkin developing romantic comedy

By MICHAEL SCHNEIDER

Dobkin

ABC is developing a new romantic comedy from Imagine TV, "Wedding Crashers" director David Dobkin and the scribes behind "500 Days of Summer."

"Friends With Benefits," which has been given a script plus penalty commitment from the Alphabet net, centers on a group of twentysomethings who are exploring the modern dating world. The two couples are more than friends -- but they're not really dating.

Single-camera entry reps the first TV project for "500 Days" writers Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber, who penned the script and will exec produce along with Dobkin. Dobkin will direct if the show is greenlit as a pilot.

Imagine's Brian Grazer, who spearheaded the project, and TV topper David Nevins are also exec producing; 20th Century Fox TV is the studio.

"It's a coming-of-age story," Nevins said. "I think there's a ripe opportunity for this generation's sex and relationship show -- what 'Friends' was 10 years ago. The nuances of how twentysomethings are living, meeting each other and growing up is ripe for this."

Nevins was particularly excited to have landed the show at ABC now that new comedy entries "Modern Family" and "Cougar Town" opened to strong results. Deal for "Friends With Benefits" was done prior to Wednesday, however.

Neustadter and Weber pitched their idea of a young-skewing relationship comedy to Imagine execs, who mentioned that Dobkin was thinking about doing something similar.

Coincidentally, Neustadter and Weber are already working with Dobkin on the rewrite of a feature project.

"We're excited about the larger canvas (of TV)," said Weber. "We still have a lot of personal stories to tell. It's the time period of your life where you're asking these big questions -- is this a girlfriend or someone I'm spending time with? Is this a job or a career? Scott and I talk about these things all day long when we're not writing."