CBS has made its new comedy series picks, giving orders to Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins’ Carol’s Second Act, starring Patricia Heaton; Chuck Lorre’s Bob Hearts Abishola, headlined by Billy Gardell; Alex Herschlag and Jennie Snyder Urman’s Broke, starring Jaime Camil, Pauley Perrette; and Bill Martin and Mike Schiff’s The Unicorn, headlined by Walton Goggins

Your Complete Guide to Pilots and Straight-to-Series orders

This marks the official return to CBS of two stars of successful comedy series on the network, Heaton, who was on Everybody Loves Raymond, and Gardell, one of the stars of Lorre’s Mike & Molly. 

Both Carol’s Second Act and The Unicorn come from Aaron Kaplan’s Kaplan Entertainment, which also has freshman CBS comedy series The Neighborhood, already renewed for next season, and bubble CBS comedy series Life In Pieces and Fam. It gives Kapital a 2-for-2 record with its CBS pilots this year.

The Unicorn, which originated as single-camera before being converted to multi-camera and back to single-camera, will mark CBS’ first single-camera comedy series since Young Sheldon.

The order for Bob Hearts Abishola will keep Lorre’s CBS series tally at 3 series following the pending departure of The Big Bang Theory. He also has Mom and Young Sheldon, both renewed for the next two seasons.

Here are detailed descriptions and credits for CBS’ newly picked up comedy series:

BOB HEARTS ABISHOLA (Multi-Camera)

EPs: Chuck Lorre, Eddie Gorodetsky, Al Higgins
EP/Director: Beth McCarthy Miller (pilot only)
WRITERS: Chuck Lorre, Eddie Gorodetsky, Al Higgins, Gina Yashere
STUDIO: Chuck Lorre Productions, Inc. in association with Warner Bros. Television
LOGLINE: After having a heart attack, a middle-aged sock businessman from Detroit unexpectedly falls for his cardiac nurse, a Nigerian immigrant, and sets his sights on getting her to give him a chance.
CAST: Billy Gardell, Folake Olowofoyeku, Christine Ebersole, Matt Jones, Maribeth Monroe, Shola Adewusi, Barry Shabaka Henley, Travis Wolfe, Jr.

BROKE (Multi-Camera)

EP/Writer: Alex Herschlag
EPs: Jennie Snyder Urman, Joanna Klein, Ben Silverman
Director: Victor Gonzalez
EPs: Guillermo Restrepo, Gonzalo Cilley and Maria Lucia Hernandez (RCN TV and Resonant TV)
EP: Jaime Camil
STUDIO: CBS Television Studios/Sutton Street Prods./Propagate, with creative partners RCN TV and Resonant TV
LOGLINE: When an outrageously wealthy trust fund baby is cut off by his father, he and his wife move into her estranged sister’s Reseda home, forcing the two siblings toreconnect.
CAST: Jaime Camil, Pauley Perrette, Natasha Leggero, Izzy Diaz, Antonio Corbo

CAROL’S SECOND ACT (Multi-Camera)

EPs/Writers: Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins
EPs: Patricia Heaton, Adam Griffin, David Hunt and Rebecca Stay (Four Boys Entertainment); Aaron Kaplan and Dana Honor (Kapital Entertainment)
EP/Director: Pamela Fryman (pilot only)
STUDIO: CBS Television Studios
LOGLINE: After raising her two children and retiring from teaching, Carol Chambers embarks on a unique second act: pursuing her dream of becoming a doctor.
CAST: Patricia Heaton, Kyle MacLachlan, Ito Aghayere, Jean-Luc Bilodeau, Sabrina Jalees

THE UNICORN (Single Cam)

EPs/Writers: Bill Martin, Mike Schiff
EPs: Aaron Kaplan, Dana Honor (Kapital Entertainment), Wendi Trilling, Peyton Reed
EP/Director: John Hamburg (pilot only)
STUDIO: CBS Television Studios
LOGLINE: A tight-knit group of friends and family help a widower move on following the most difficult year of his life, which includes being an ill-equipped but devoted single parent to his two daughters, and taking the major step of dating where, to his shock, he’s a hot commodity.
CAST: Walton Goggins, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Omar Benson Miller, Maya Lynne Robinson, Ruby Jay, Makenzie Moss

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