Sixteen years after Ellen DeGeneres came out on her ABC sitcom, there may be another broadcast comedy with a lesbian lead. NBC is developing a new comedy to be executive produced by DeGeneres. The untitled project, written/exec produced by openly gay Jewish comedy scribe Liz Feldman (2 Broke Girls), centers on a lesbian and her straight male best friend who get pregnant just as he meets and marries the love of his life.
Feldman previously worked for two years on DeGeneres’ hit syndicated talk show and wrote for DeGeneres’ first stint as Oscar host. (She returns to Oscar duties on March 2). She is potentially best known for her lesbian-themed vlog on Afterellen.com, entitled This Just Out, which ran from May 2008 until July 2009.
NBC has a tradition with gay-themed comedies, most notably Will & Grace, and launched two half-hour series centered on gay men the last two seasons with The New Normal and Sean Saves The World. Meanwhile, CBS veteran Two And A Half Men recently added a new lesbian character played by Amber Tamblyn who is envisioned as potential co-lead.
