Bill Lawrence is staying put at Warner Bros. Television, with the TV writer and producer inking a massive five-year deal sources value at nine figures, Variety has confirmed.
WBTV would not comment on the financial terms of the deal. This marks Lawrence’s fourth deal with the studio, where he has been based since 2011. His new deal will take effect in 2023 upon the conclusion of his current deal.
Lawrence’s team has been negotiating with WBTV on the new deal for months due to the overwhelming success of the Apple series “Ted Lasso,” which Lawrence co-developed and on which he serves as showrunner and executive producer. He is the latest in a line of top TV creators to score such lucrative deals in the streaming era, with others including Shonda Rhimes, Kenya Barris, Ryan Murphy, and Mike Schur.
“Ted Lasso” won seven Emmy Awards back in September out of 20 nominations, the most nominations ever for a comedy series in its first season. Since then, the entire team on the show has scored pay raises ahead of the third season, which goes into production shortly in London.
Popular on Variety
Under his new deal, Lawrence and his Doozer Productions banner will continue to develop original series for WBTV across all platforms. Aside from “Ted Lasso” he is also currently working on the drama “Bad Monkey” at Apple, which will star Vince Vaughn. Additionally, he and “Ted Lasso” star and writer Brett Goldstein are working on the Apple series “Shrinking” with Jason Segel. All three are writing and executive producing with Segel also starring.
Lawrence is also known for creating the beloved medical comedy “Scrubs” as well as co-creating the shows “Cougar Town” and “Spin City.” He is repped by ICM and attorney Jared Levine.
