Smith's New Comedies

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Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have set up two comedy projects, one at CW with "Jack & Jill" creator Randi Mayem Singer and one at ABC with Betsy Borns, who co-created "All of Us" with the couple.

The untitled CW project, from CBS Paramount Network TV and Overbrook Entertainment, is a single-camera half-hour about a group of mostly divorced mothers who live in a large apartment complex. From the point of view of a security guard who patrols the area, it focuses on the women's child-rearing problems and their dating lives.

"It's about making lunch and making love," Singer said.

Singer was one of several writers approached with the concept, a brainchild of Pinkett Smith, and she immediately responded.

"Single moms are nothing new, but it was the idea to set it in one of these communities that made it cohesive to me," Singer said. "The (apartment) development will be a character in the show in the way that New York City was a character in 'Sex and the City.' "

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Singer is writing the project, which has received a script commitment from the network. She also is executive producing with Smith, Pinkett Smith and James Lassiter, Smith's partner at Overbrook.

Since "Jack & Jill," Singer has focused on the feature world. Most recently, she wrote a script for a fantasy romantic comedy for Imagine Entertainment and Universal, "Just Like a Woman."

The untitled ABC project, which is yet to be set up at a studio, is a multicamera comedy about an upper-class black man from a conservative family and his Jewish wife from a liberal lower-middle-class family who juggle raising their twins and dealing with their respective mother-in-laws who move into their crowded home.

Borns is writing the project, which has received a script commitment from the network. She is executive producing with Smith, Pinkett Smith and Lassiter.

The comedy "All of Us," which Borns co-created and is executive producing with Smith and Pinkett Smith, is in its fourth season. The show, which originated on WB Network, migrated to the new CW in the fall.

Before "All of Us," Borns worked on such series as NBC's "Friends" and ABC's "Roseanne."

Overbrook has been busy this development season. Last month, the company landed a put-pilot commitment from CBS for a medical drama set at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Jan Nash and Jennifer Levin are penning the project, a co-production with CBS Par TV (HR 10/11).

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