ABC has snatched up the rights to the comedy project, which Perry is starring in and co-writing, by offering a rich deal that, according to The Hollywood Reporter, makes a series commitment a virtual lock. ABC outbid NBC for the rights to the Sony Pictures TV show.
News that the former "Friends" star was shopping the project, which he's writing and executive producing with Mark Firek and Alex Barnow ("Family Guy," "'Til Death"), came to light only yesterday, but it didn't take long for networks to jump in with offers.
Perry, who turned 40 earlier this year, will play a guy who starts to re-examine his life when he hits 40.
- In other development news, "
gilmore girls season dvd" creator Amy Sherman-Palladino is setting up shop at HBO.
Like "
gilmore girls season dvd," the new project will focus on mother-daughter relationships. It's about three sisters, all of them writers, who live in the same New York apartment building and stand in the shadow of their mother, a famous author who dotes on their brother but has little time for them.
"It's a story of love, hate, family -- and finding the perfect opening line," she tells the HR.
The pilot is the first project Sherman-Palladino has done for a cable channel. Her most recent effort was the short-lived FOX comedy "The Return of Jezebel James."
