Zainab Johnson
Following news earlier today that the network had ordered a pilot for a new untitled Shonda Rhimes/Shondaland legal drama (read that post here), ABC has also put into development an untitled comedy from actress/comedian Zainab Johnson, comedian Tom Straw, and Wanda Sykes via her Push It Productions shingle which she runs with Page Hurwitz.
The project is set up at ABC Studios.
Based on a story by Johnson and Straw, and to be scripted by Straw, the project follows the life of a Muslim model as she approaches her 30th birthday, as her career faces a downturn, and she is forced to tackle problems she never had to deal with before, leading her to question the choices she’s making in her life. Realizing that she has to move back in with her family, she finds out that her siblings are also facing similar life-changing events.
Straw, Sykes and Hurwitz will executive produce.
Johnson was the winner of HBO’s American Black Film Festival Comedy Wings Competition in 2013, and the following year, she was a semi-finalist on NBC’s “Last Comic Standing.” Johnson has also appeared on ABC’s “Private Practice.”
Whether this will be a starring vehicle for Johnson isn’t said in the announcement.
This ABC project is one of a handful that Sykes and Hurwitz’s Push It Prods has in development. In addition, there’s “Face Value,” a comedy game show pilot with Deon Cole and Tiffany Haddish for BET; and there’s the TruTV series “Talk Show: The Game Show,” which will begin airing in the spring.
Johnson is repped by Cohen & Gardner.
