Nasim Pedrad could finally be returning to television soon after TBS ordered a new pilot of Chad, a sitcom the former Saturday Night Live star developed at Fox back in 2016.
In Chad, Pedrad will play a 14-year-old Persian boy trying to fit in with high school, reconcile his cultural identity and cope with his mother’s busy dating life. The show was written, created and executive produced by Pedrad, who will serve as showrunner with Hayes Davenport. Rob Rosell and Oly Obst are also executive producers.
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“I’m so grateful to TBS for believing in Chad and giving an adult Middle-Eastern woman the opportunity to play a teenage boy while also running the show behind the camera,” Pedrad said in a statement Monday, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
“Nasim embodies this role so perfectly, you forget you’re watching a woman playing a young boy,” Thom Hinkle, TBS’ Executive Vice President of Originals, added. “It’s such a funny, endearing script that evokes a modern-day Wonder Years centered around a Middle Eastern family. We can’t wait to shoot it.”
The show was first brought to Fox in 2016, when current TBS/TNT boss Kevin Reilly was running things. Since taking things over at the Turner-owned networks, he has brought his brand of oddball comedy to life with shows like Angie Tribeca, Search Party, Wrecked, The Detour and The Guest Book. The network is also home to Tracy Morgan’s The Last O.G., which was originally developed at FX.
Chad‘s surprising revival comes after the success of Hulu’s latest sitcom, the Lonely Island-produced PEN15. In that show, which launched on Friday, creators Maya Eskine and Anna Konkle play 13-year-olds in high school.
Pedrad is best known for her run on Saturday Night Live from 2009 to 2014. Since then, she has appeared in a handful of sitcoms in recurring or guest-starring roles, including New Girl, The Mindy Project, People of Earth, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Scream Queens. She co-starred in SNL writer John Mulaney’s short-lived Fox sitcom Mulaney in 2014.
Pedrad’s next big role will be in Disney’s Aladdin. She was cast as a new character, Dalia, a friend and handmaiden for Jasmine.
“We’re just obsessed with each other, I adore her,” Naomi Scott, who plays Jasmine, told The Hollywood Reporter of Pedrad. “She’s hilarious and amazing, and as soon as we started working together, we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, why haven’t we known each other for so many years?!’”
Aladdin opens on May 24.
Photo credit: Robby Klein/Getty Images
