File under: Finally! Last week, CBS ordered a lesbian-centric sitcom script from out writer-comedian Carol Leifer. According to The Hollywood Reporter:
Inspired in part by Leifer’s real-life situation of being in a long-term, same-sex relationship and having a child with her partner, the CBS show, tentatively titled You and Me and He, centers on a recently divorced woman who enters a gay relationship only to find out that she is pregnant with her ex-husband’s baby.
It does kind of sound like Ross/Susan/Carol’s storyline from Friends, but this time it’s being told by a lesbian, from the perspective of the lesbians. So shelve that skepticism and put down CBS’ GLAAD report card (Grade: Failing) and cross your fingers with me.
If you don’t recognize Leifer’s name, you’ll definitely recognize her work. She was the creator and writer of the short-lived The Ellen Show, the hopeful reincarnation of Ellen DeGeneres‘ sitcom career after she came out in 1997.
Leifer also wrote some seminal episodes of Seinfeld, most notably The Lip Reader, which starred Marlee Matlin as a deaf tennis line judge. The episode was nominated for an Eddie Award for Best Edited Half Hour Series for Television, and earnedMatlin an Emmy nomination.
In fact, Matlin is teaming up with Leifer again. In the second bit of good news for Leifer last week, Showtime picked up her comedy Mouthpiece, which stars Matlin and Mario Cantone.
There isn’t much we can do beyond speculating at this point in the early life of Leifer’s comedy You, Me and He. It is a long road from script order to a show getting picked up and broadcast by a network. I’ll be over here praying to the TV gods that they’ll make it happen. I sort of feel like they still owe us big time for ever letting Carrie Prejean get famous.
Are you interested in watching a Leifer’s lesbian sitcom?
