‘Halfway There’ Pilot Starring Iliza Shlesinger Gets Commitment From CBS

CBS has made a pilot commitment to comedian Iliza Shlesinger’s multi-camera sibling comedy Halfway There, according to Deadline. Shlesinger will star in the show as a comic whose schtick revolves around guiding women through life — but the practical application of her own advice is put to the test when her half-sister moves in with her. Shlesinger will also co-write the series, along with creators Sherry Bilsing-Graham and Ellen Plummer-Kreamer, who developed the series in conjunction with Avalon Television and ABC Studios.

Shlesinger has been busy of late. She published her first book, Girl Logic, last year. She also hosted the limited run late night talk show Truth & Iliza. She is currently on an international theatre tour coming off her fourth Netflix stand-up performance, Elder Millennial. She is also finishing work on the Peter Berg film Wonderland, while looking forward to the upcoming premiere of Instant Family, which she co-stars in with Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne.

Shlesinger, Bilsing-Graham, and Plummer-Kreamer will executive produce the show, joined by Avalon TV’s Kara Baker and David Martin.

Shlesinger burst onto the scene in 2008 as the first woman to win Last Comic Standing. Her comedy has long been concerned with how women see themselves, and how they treat each other, according to TV Insider. In discussing her Netflix special Confirmed Kills, one can hear the developing premise for Halfway There.

“I felt this obligation to say something, I guess, important… I felt this obligation to not necessarily just comment/make fun of girl behavior, but also kind of explain it and let girls know, ‘Hey, I’m on your side. Somebody gets this.'”

The Bilsing-Graham/Plummer-Kreamer team also continue their long run of success. The Friends and The New Adventures of Old Christine team recently found praise as the creators of I Hate My Teenage Daughter, and last year’s Southern Hospitality.

Sherry Bilsing-Graham and Ellen Plummer-Kreamer won an Emmy award in 2002 for Outstanding Comedy Series as the executive producers for Friends, while the duo also shared the Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Writing In A Comedy Series. They earned another Emmy nomination the next year for Friends. The longtime collaborators met on the Kirstie Alley and Kathy Najimy series Veronica’s Closet in the late 1990s.

The CBS fall lineup features three new comedy series in the midst of their heavy crime-drama slate, with The Neighborhood, Happy Together, and the reboot of Murphy Brown, also per Deadline. If Halfway There is picked up as well, that might indicate an impending shift in CBS primetime programming.

Shlesinger’s Halfway There is not to be confused with the Matthew Lilliard and Blythe Danner TV movie of the same name.