Before I start this can I just say how much I heart Martin Lawrence. Television hasn't quite been the same since he left and hopefully with today's news he's gonna be coming back to reclaim what's rightfully his. This week, Martin has been in the news regarding some of the upcoming television stuff he's been developing with his production company Runteldat.
At Fox, Lawrence is behind an animated comedy, which is being penned by Rodney Barnes, that is based on his experiences growing up in the Washington, D.C.-Maryland area.
At Starz, he has a single-camera interracial family show based on the comedy of Gary Owen. Both projects have script commitments.
Additionally, Lawrence is developing a multicamera family comedy set at a funeral home that is expected to be taken out to other networks.
The Fox animated half-hour, which is being produced by 20th Century Fox TV, will follow the misadventures of 13-year-old Martin as he comes of age in D.C.
Lawrence quickly connected with Barnes, who grew up in Maryland. Barnes, who was a co-exec producer of " 'Til Death," "Everybody Hates Chris" and the animated "The Boondocks," is repped by Paradigm and Principato-Young.
The interracial comedy project for Starz is about a white guy from a trailer park who marries a well-to-do black woman. It is inspired by Owen's real-life experience and stems from Runteldat's stand-up series for Starz, "Martin Lawrence Presents 1st Amendment Stand-up," which has featured Owen.
"We all thought he is hilarious," Runteldat director of development Darice Rollins said. She met Lawrence while working as a writer on his Fox sitcom "Martin."
Developing a comedy series with Owen, who also might star in the project, is part of Lawrence's efforts to give up-and-coming stand-ups an opportunity to take the same journey he took -- from stand-up to TV comedy series to movies, Rollins said.
Owen, the only white man to host BET's "ComicView," is repped by ICM and Modus Entertainment.
Lawrence, Repped by CAA and the Collective, recently wrapped the feature "Death at a Funeral."
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