NBC signs for comedy import

It appears that Ben Silverman is making his mark as Co-Chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios. The question now is whether US audiences are ready for the edgy comedy "Serial Frank," which has aired for two seasons on a French-Canadian channel. Serial Frank (the original is "François en série") is a single-camera series about a young man who has to deal with unpredictable physical manifestations of his multiple personas that he acts out - all unseen by anyone else. In the original, they include, among others, a child, a dwarf and even a woman. (You can tell who they are because they all dress exactly like Frank, no matter what he happens to be wearing.) Serial Frank has already been sold for airing or remaking in several other countries. The US version, the first sale in this market ever by Montreal-based Distraction, is to be produced by Universal Studios, Reveille (the company that Silverman founded before joining NBC Universal) and Catapult. Mark O'Keefe, of "Bruce Almighty" famed, will write the script, executive producing alongside Catapult's Marc Abrams and Michael Benson.

TVBR/RBR observation: We found some highlights of the first two seasons on YouTube. For one thing, we're betting that the NBC version will have less nudity.

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