It reports CBS has put in development Nobody Trusts Maz, a multi-camera family comedy from veteran writer-producer Phoef Sutton, who did Cheers. It will star Iranian American actor-comedian Maz Jobrani.
The project, from CBS TV Studios and studio-based Tannenbaum Co., is described as a show about raising a family in modern day, multi-ethnic America.
It centers on Maz and Jenny — a young couple living the American Dream with a house in the suburbs and two kids. The only problem is that Jenny is Irish-American and Maz is Persian-American.
To them it’s no big deal. But to her father and his mother, it’s a very big deal. Maz’s upper class Persian mother feels that he married beneath his station, while Jenny’s father feels that Maz must have al-Qaeda somewhere in his background.
In addition to standup comedy, Jobrani—who in real life is married to an Indian-American lawyer and has two kids—has appeared on a number of TV series. His regular/recurring credits include ABC’s Knights Of Prosperity and Better Off Ted.
The Jobrani program is just in development, so he is not guaranteed any time slot on CBS as of yet. The networks usually decide in late spring which programs in development will be aired and which ones dropped.
A few years ago, one of the networks plunked down money to develop the book “Funny in Farsi” by Firoozeh Dumas as a television comedy series. It is based on the theme of an immigrant family trying to adjust to American society and and tripping over concepts that the American-born don’t even notice. But it didn’t make the spring cut and has never been revived.
Another website, Television Blend, said of the Jobrani project, “The plotline sounds a little tired and the name lacks originality, but Maz Jobrani Ö is a seriously funny guy who may have what it takes to get an overused and marriage-induced racial clash show off the ground.Ö The producers will have to find a way to steer past stereotype jokes to really get this idea off the ground.”