TV Land has secured its top comedy series Younger and Teachers for next year. Flagship Younger, which returns June 28 for its fourth season, has been picked up for a 12-episode fifth season, while Teachers, which returns with the back half of Season 2 this fall, has been renewed for a 20-episode third season. The sizes of the orders are in line with the two shows’ current orders, with a possibility for Younger to produce more episodes.
The early renewals for Younger and Teachers come on the heels of a similar early vote of confidence to new comedy series Nobodies, executive produced by Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone, which was picked up for Season 2 before the series premiere.
Younger, Teachers and Nobodies will serve as the 2018 programming backbone of TV Land. They will be a model for the network, which is recallibrating its comedy brand a bit in the current Viacom realignment, which saw two newly picked-up TV Land series, Heathers and American Woman, migrate to the rebranded Paramount Network. “I think lighter comedy is what TV Land is in the business of,” Kevin Kay, president of Paramount Network, TV Land and CMT, recently told Deadline. “The one that has popped for them in a big way is Younger, and Teachers has shown great growth in its second season. I think that has set the tone. They are comedies with heart, and they are a little bit lighter than what we are going to do on Paramount Network.”
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While Younger, from Sex and the City creator Darren Star, has been a standout from the start, Teachers has been a sophomore success story, posting year-to-year growth and hitting multiple series highs.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to be bringing back Younger and Teachers for more seasons and double down on our dedication to creating smart, funny, honest and compelling originals,” said TV Land General Manager Frank Tanki.
Here are official descriptions of TV Land’s three original series set to return in 2018:
“YOUNGER”
“Younger,” from “Sex and the City” creator Daren Star, stars two-time Tony winner Sutton Foster, Hilary Duff, Debi Mazar, Miriam Shor, Nico Tortorella, Peter Hermann and Molly Bernard. The series follows Liza, a 40-year old woman who pretends to be 26 in order to get a job in the highly competitive world of publishing – and succeeds. Last season, as Liza continued her lie, her two lives became irreversibly intertwined – with her longtime best friend, Maggie (Mazar), new friend and partner at Empirical, Kelsey, prickly boss Diana (Shor), and everyone in between, becoming part of the same world. In the season three finale, Liza came to realize the damage her secret has caused and finally unveiled the truth to Kelsey (Hilary Duff). Now Liza will be forced to deal with the fallout of her deceit and learn that the truth hurts. Season four premieres Wednesday, June 28th at 10pm ET/PT. Season five will premiere in 2018.
“TEACHERS”
“Teachers” revolves around a group of elementary school teachers who are trying to mold the minds of America’s youth, but don’t have their own lives together at all. The series is written by and stars The Katydids – Caitlin Barlow, Katy Colloton, Cate Freedman, Kate Lambert, Katie O’Brien and Kathryn Renée Thomas – and so far in season two, great guest stars have popped up, including Haley Joel Osment (“Alpha House,” “Comedy Bang! Bang!”) as Mrs. Adler’s husband, Ryan Hansen (“Party Down”) as Ms. Snap’s rival in a school council race, Jessica St. Clair (“Playing House”) as the school counselor, and many more.
The rest of season two, returning this fall, will see Ms. Bennigan (O’Brien) keep naively pursuing Hot Dad (guest star Ryan Caltagirone), Mrs. Adler and Ms. Feldman (Freedman) dealing with a “serial pooper” around the school, and even an entire episode taking place in the 1940s. Season three will premiere in 2018.
“NOBODIES”
“Nobodies” stars and is executive produced and written by Groundlings alums Hugh Davidson, Larry Dorf and Rachel Ramras and revolves around the three as they try desperately to land one of their famous friends for a feature script that they have developed, so that they, too, can rise to fame in Hollywood. Davidson, Dorf and Ramras are partnering with their real-life friends, Emmy® winner Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone, who executive produce “Nobodies” through their production company, On The Day. Michael McDonald (“MadTV”), also a former Groundling, is showrunner and also serves as executive producer and director. Guest stars this season include McCarthy, Falcone and McDonald, as well as Kristen Wiig, Kristen Bell, Allison Janney, Jason Bateman, Maya Rudolph, Leslie Bibb, Jim Rash, Nat Faxon and many more. “Nobodies” can currently be seen on TV Land on Wednesdays at 10pm ET/PT.
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