Judge Greg Mathis and Ellen DeGeneres are teaming up for a scripted TV comedy series based on the life of Mathis. The show went into development with Warner Bros. TV and DeGeneres’ company, A Very Good Production.
The project will be a multi-camera production that Fox has chosen for a script commitment. Writing brothers Todd Jones and Earl Richey Jones will be drafting the first script for the studio, which centers on a hoodlum-turned-judge who has complete control of his courtroom — and absolutely no control at home raising his four kids with his wife.
In his youth, Mathis was a gang member who ended up in jail. When his single mother was diagnosed with cancer he committed himself to turning his life around: he went to college and law school, eventually becoming a judge. He’s currently married with four children.
If the untitled show actually gets picked up as expected, this will be the first African- American series on broadcast TV since popular sitcoms such as The Cosby Show, My Wife and Kids and The Bernie Mac Show were on the air. Seems like the networks have been avoiding African-American based sitcoms, leaving them to Tyler Perry and his productions.
