David Cross pens C4 pilot

[BillBrasky]

From Chortle :

American comic David Cross has written a sitcom pilot for Channel 4.
The Arrested Development actor will also star in The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, about a US businessman who finds himself out of his depth when he is mistakenly sent to run his company’s UK arm.

He co-wrote the show with former stand-up Shaun Pye, the co-creator of dark animated comedy Monkey Dust, for Channel 4’s second Comedy Showcase series.

Cross’s Arrested Development co-star Will Arnett is also in talks to appear in the show, according to trade magazine Broadcast.

[aenemaTron]

what is channel 4

[Lauren]

what is channel 4

http://www.channel4.com/

[aenemaTron]

Not helpful.

[BillBrasky]

It's one of the 4 major British TV networks. There's BBC1, BBC2, ITV, and Channel 4.
Channel 4 usually has a pretty good track record for comedy- Father Ted, Brass Eye, Peep Show, and The IT Crowd were all Channel 4 shows.

[aenemaTron]

Ah. Thanks. I've never seen those shows.

[theodoric]

We'll see how long this holds his attention. Perhaps the 6- or 12-show seasons are more to his taste and attention span.

[Batman The Horse]

Ah. Thanks. I've never seen those shows.

Liar.

[mezmorized]

Ah. Thanks. I've never seen those shows.

How about Garth Marenghi's Darkplace? That was on Channel 4.

[rotation]

yeah! and what about nathan barley?

and mighty boosh?!

and the thick of it?

[aenemaTron]

I've only seen Darkplace. Who gives a bibble?

[Nick C.]

Spaced was also on Channel 4.

[BillBrasky]

http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/06/22/...d-will-arnett/

Were you let down by the so-so showing of David Cross in this weekend’s Year One? Here’s the antidote: Cross has written a pilot for a UK comedy show called The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret. His co-writer is Shaun Pye, an actor who had a recurring role in Extras. Alongside Cross, the stars of the show are Will Arnett and, in his first big acting gig since Three Kings, Spike Jonze.

The pilot was shot recently and should be finished now, as Cross said to the LA Times a week ago:

I shot a pilot for Channel 4. And it’ll air, I believe, in December. When we picture-lock on Friday, it will be almost two years to the day that I was first approached by those guys. The cast is a crazy dream team.

Dream team, indeed. The plot follows a US exec who is mistakenly sent to run his company’s UK arm, and finds himself way over his head. Cross stars as exec Todd Margaret, with Jonze, Arnett and Russell Tovey supporting. The idea of seeing Jonze interact with that crew is incredible, and it’ll be great to see Cross in something where he’s had full control. The full synopsis, as found on producer RDF Media’s site, is below:

American Todd Margaret (David Cross) bluffs his way into an apparently great job opportunity, heading up the sales team in his employer’s London office. All he has to do is sell several thousand energy drinks before his boss visits him in a week. Simple. Apart from the fact that he knows nothing about British culture and nothing about sales. This is further complicated when he lies continuously to cover his ignorance and spectacularly fails to impress Alice the first beautiful girl he meets. Dave, his British co-worker, soon takes full advantage of Todd’s situation and chaos ensues.

[Trial]

[brianpalmer]

Spike Jonze posted some photos from the making of over on his Wild Things blog, as well as the following:
While we were in London finishing the effects at Framestore, I got to be in a pilot for David Cross created for Channel 4 in Britain. I am in just in a couple scenes in the first episode. I have no idea why David asked me to do it but I had the best role, I just get non-stop verbally abused by Will Arnett in the most scathing hilarious way. I spent the whole day cracking up at two of the funniest people I’ve hung out with. I felt like I had my own private Will and David comedy show. Also, it was directed by the Russo brothers who directed a lot of Arrested Development. They have a great touch.

[Bucky_Sinister]

Ah. Thanks. I've never seen those shows.

father ted is awesome. watch that one!

[johnnyfashion]

There's a 151-foot schooner out of Bar Harbor, ME called the Margaret Todd. I demand to know if there's any relation.

[Babs]

I am way too excited about this.

[BillBrasky]

David writes on bobanddavid.com:

Hi Everybody!
Well, the results are officially in! Congratulations to all the winners, Hamfisted3000@gmail.com, 2good2B4got10@yahoo.com. and #1LinkinParkfan@gmail.com. Each one of you will be receiving an autographed e-meter and twelve Bartlett pears for guessing correctly how long it would be before I posted on bobanddavid.com again. You all guessed exactly nine months and six days! Kudos to you all.

So, in a rhetorical sense, what have you all been doing since I last checked in? I've had a few things up my wizard sleeve that I've been working on to show you. I've actually been very busy the last year. And I'm not including shooting the "squeakual" to G-Force. I recently completed post on a show I co-wrote (with Shaun Pye) and acted in for Channel 4 in the U.K. which will be airing in December, so set your Tivos for "TV from England" and enjoy. It's called, "The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret" and I'm really happy with it. It has a fucking AMAZING cast. And outside of not securing the rights to "Happy Jack" by The Who, everything turned out pretty much as I wanted it to. Will Arnett and Spike Jonez and Amber Tamblyn represent the American side of things at its best and the insanely, unfairly talented Sharon Horgan (Pulling) , Russell Tovey (Being Human) and Matt King (Peep Show) represent the British in all their naked glory. Oh! Also, the Russo brothers (Arrested Development pilot and most of the best episodes) directed. And what a fucking treat working with everyone over there. Pretty much the exact opposite experience of doing a show here. The studio and network all treat you like an equal. Shockingly, they will defer to you! Never any insipid notes like, "Can you make the Irish woman with rickets a German teen-age boy with secret chocolate wings and a time machine? And also make him claymation? We think that will really broaden our audience that we're trying to sell Gatorade to. We have a study that shows that electric grape-flavored Gatorade is the flavor of choice with fans of claymation, time-traveling, chocolate German angels." The folks at RDF (the studio) and Channel 4 (network) could not have been more pleasant, equitable, or fun to work with. Also, Jon Benjamin (of the Worcester Benjamins) and I have completed and turned in a pilot for Adult Swim which we both have high hopes for. I can't tell you anything about it because it's a secret. But a funny secret nonetheless.
I've also got a book coming out at the end of August titled, "I Drink For A Reason" which is also funny. I will be doing a smallish tour, hopefully with Nick Swardson filling in the bill, up and down and here, diagonally, across the United States of America and two places in Canada, starting in mid-September.

Bob and I keep fueling the pipe dream we have of writing/performing/touring/filming together. Every time we are lucky enough to get to hang out and do shows together (and with the resultant new sketches being written and performed) we always end up sweaty(Bob), drunk (me) and in a time-hardened lover's lock rolling around on the ground swearing we're gonna do something together, "for real this time!!" We will of course. I'm just hoping it's before I need to change the prescription on my bifocals.

OH! Also, check out kickstarter.com! It's this very cool website that is a community fundraising site for creative projects. You pledge money to fund a project but you don't have to pay a cent unless it gets funded 100%. Then, depending on the artist, you get some sort of premium depending on how much money you contribute. Anywhere from five bucks to a couple of hundred. I got on board very early on in its development and am going to try to raise money to go to McMurdo (base? town? I'm not even sure) in the South Pole in Antarctica and do a comedy show for the 1,000 or so people who work/live there. It costs like 20 grand to get international clearance and fly down there. Could be cool. And weird. More likely weird.

Goddamn, what else? Mark Rivers is having a baby. Eh, whatever.

Anyway, sorry for being so anti-social but I really have been working on a ton of stuff. I hope to see you at a bookstore or theater or music club near you soon. Enjoy the summer! I'll be upstate at my house in the woods on my trampoline with my dog and some b-b-q.

David Cross

[Libel]

I Drink For A Reason is an amazing title for a book. All this info is very promising. Brasky I pretty much gave up on bobanddavid.com after they didn't update for 6 months. Way to stay on top of things.