Second City to Develop Shows for NBC

BY Carrie L. Kaufman

Andrew Alexander

The unofficial pipeline from Chicago’s improv and sketch stages to TV stardom just got more legit with a deal between Second City and NBC/Universal. For the next two years, the two companies will work together to create comedy programming for television and digital media.

And that, said Second City’s Kelly Leonard and Andrew Alexander, means more work for Second City performers past and present.

“We’ve got great resources, we’ve got unique ways of developing content,” said Leonard, who is president of Second City Theatricals.

“The type of actors and the writing skills we have is what L.A. is looking for right now,” said Alexander, who is Second City’s CEO.

Alexander knows whereof he speaks. The creator of “SCTV” pulled out of L.A. in the early ‘90s because the TV industry was moving away from improv-based material.

“I didn’t feel we had the kind of respect we should be getting in terms of what we have to offer,” said Alexander.

But since Drew Carey brought “Whose Line is it Anyway” to ABC, television has been more receptive to improv and sketch, airing shows like “The Office,” “Arrested Development” and “30 Rock,” the latter written by and starring Second City alum Tina Fey.

“The respect for what Second City does is now the hot thing in the business,” said Alexander. “There’s a genre here that is taking the place of the sitcom.”

That genre, said Leonard, encompasses Second City’s motto to “play at the top of your intelligence.”

“We’re so intent here on really utilizing this resource and having this deal be productive,” said Nancy Perkins, Sr. vice president of casting for NBC/Universal. Perkins said she was intrigued by Second City’s pitch because it give the studio access to all of Second City’s libraries, as well as talent now performing around the country. Perkins and Shelley McCrory, head of comedy development for NBC/Universal, will be coming to Chicago next month to start scouting.

But most of the work between Second City and NBC will be through the new media office that Second City will open in L.A. to channel the development ideas. Leonard also said they will be beefing up media production in Chicago. Second City already has digital content on places like YouTube and MySpace. Casts outside of L.A. will likely be providing much of the new digital content, Alexander said.

Second City is already developing half-hour shows with alum Keegan Michael Key and Rich Talarico, among others.

But, stressed Alexander, “We’re not going to pull people off stages and ship them off to Hollywood until they’re ready.”

“It’s so vital for us to protect the theatre and the integrity of the theatre,” said Leonard, who admitted that the live shows have suffered when Second City has forayed into TV before.

Yet, said Leonard, “If anyone has an idea, and people think it has merit, it will get pitched.”