ABC has greenlit a put pilot from Victor Fresco ("Andy Richter Controls the Universe") about a man whose morals are tested working for a large, faceless mega-corporation.Workplace comedy comes from 20th Century Fox TV, where Fresco is based. Alphabet web has ordered a script with a substantial penalty attached for the single-camera half-hour.

Fresco calls the currently untitled show "a comical look at how our corporate workplace has become." The comedy focuses on Ted, a charming, likeable thirtysomething who heads up the research and development department at a Fortune 500 company.

"He works in a compassionately challenged, heartless company," Fresco said. "He's been very good at developing product -- specifically products with multiple uses. But at his level, he's the only person there saddled with a conscience. It probably holds him back, but he has it, and he struggles with it."

Ted is fiercely loyal to a group of misfits who make up his team; at home, he's the single father of an 8-year-old who keeps him honest.
Fresco will infuse the show with a strong dose of satire, as he examines what it's like to work in this kind of corporation today.

"As companies get more powerful, there's less allegiance to their people," he said. "Work has become more soul-drenching. People are seen as more disposable, and products are developed that there's not enough of a need for -- so they develop a need."

As exec producer on the critically acclaimed but short-lived "Andy Richter," Fresco addressed some of those work-themed topics. Fresco is a consulting producer on "My Name Is Earl." Before that, he exec produced Fox's "Life on a Stick." Fresco's credits also include "The Trouble With Normal," "Fired Up," "Almost Perfect" and "Mad About You."

Portia de Rossi ("Arrested Development") will co-star in a comedy pilot for ABC.

The project, from "My Name Is Earl" writer-producer Victor Fresco, is a single-camera office comedy that centers on a moral guy trying to do right in an amoral world.

De Rossi recently had a recurring role on "Nip/Tuck."

National Doodle Day is today, which means that Portia's doodle will be up for auction tonight at 6PM.

These doodles have a very important aim: the funds they raise will benefit NF, Inc., an organization dedicated to providing support to individuals and families affected by neurofibromatosis (NF).

Neurofibromatosis is a genetic disorder that affects one in every 2,500 births. NF is more common than Cystic Fibrosis, Muscular Dystrophy and Huntington’s Disease combined. Funds raised from the Doodle Day auction will go to support education, advocacy, coalitions, and research for treatments and a cure.

Click here for the official Doodle Day website, with all the information you need to bid on Portia's doodle.

Two new sets of scans have been added to the gallery, the first an article from UK's Heat magazine about being gay in Hollywood, and the second from 'Ally McBeal: The Official Guide' book by Tim Appello.



Magazines / Heat [UK] x 05
Miscellaneous / 'Ally McBeal - The Official Guide' by Tim Appelo: Scans x 04

Thanks to Mary, who wrote in to AfterElton asking about Portia's new project 'Butch and Fay', we now have some new information.

Q: I was wondering if you have any news on Portia de Rossi's new series Butch and Fay which is supposedly about two closeted Hollywood types who make a marriage of convenience to save their careers. We would love to know if it’s been picked up. – Mary, London, England

A: Sounds like Dick Sargent and Fannie Flagg! But a point of correction: it’s actually a TV movie, not a series.

The project is currently in development, written by Portia with out lesbian Amanda Bearse (Married…With Children) negotiating to direct. The gay male role of “Butch” has not yet been cast. It sounds like a clever idea, and something that de Rossi probably knows something about. But the earliest we could see it is 2009.