An Inside Look at Yahoo's Original Series Yahoo announced two original comedy series -- one about a misfit spaceship crew and one about Las Vegas's first pro basketball team.
By Nina Zipkin •
Joining the likes of Netflix, Amazon and now Microsoft, Yahoo has entered the scripted programming game.
The company presented two new original half-hour comedies at their Digital Content NewFront at New York's Lincoln Center on Tuesday.
Other Space comes from Paul Feig, best known for creating Freaks and Geeks with Judd Apatow and directing the movie Bridesmaids. A workplace comedy of sorts set in the 22nd century, the series will follow a bored, misfit spaceship crew (there's rarely another kind) tasked with finding alien life, that's forced to adapt when they're flung into an alternate universe.
Related: Microsoft to Create Original TV Shows for Xbox
The other comedy, Sin City Saints, comes from producer Mike Tollin (Smallville, Varsity Blues, 30 for 30), and director Bryan Gordon (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Party Down) and is set to chronicle Las Vegas's first pro basketball team and its green new owner, a Silicon Valley billionaire whose business sense doesn't exactly translate to the dealings of a major league front office.
Tollin took the stage with Minnesota Timberwolves player Kevin Love, and likened the new series to shows like The Office (of which Feig directed several episodes, including the pilot) and The Larry Sanders Show.
Related: Rumored: Yahoo Might Launch Its Own YouTube, Allegedly Snatching Up Viral YouTube Talent
Both shows will premiere in 2015. Each has eight episodes, all of which will be released at the same time on Yahoo Screen (for optimal binge-watching capabilities, of course).
On the news front, Katie Couric, who signed on as Yahoo's global anchor last year, also unveiled her two new shows. World 3.0. which will focus on innovators and entrepreneurs and the explainer-driven Now I Get It will both begin this summer.
Related: Alibaba Could Be the Biggest IPO Ever -- But What the Heck Is It?
