Kudrow clinches NBC deal

Former Friends star Lisa Kudrow and her producing partner, Dan Bucatinsky, have signed a two-year TV development deal with her old employers at NBC.

Under the pact, NBC Universal Television Studio will get the first crack at the duo's comedy and drama projects, moving Kudrow and Bucatinsky's 3-year-old production venture Is or Isn't Entertainment from its original home at Warner Bros. TV.

"Lisa and Dan have an incredibly sophisticated and distinctive taste," said Shelley McCrory, senior vice president for comedy series at NBC Universal TV. "They are a great talent magnet, and they are very prolific. She is a great performer and producer, and he is a terrific writer, so the two are a great team."

While the deal is for Kudrow and Bucatinsky's services as producers, Kudrow is said to be open to starring in a project the two develop if the right one comes along.

Under their earlier pact with Warner Bros., Kudrow and Bucatinsky developed and produced such projects as the HBO comedy series The Comeback, which starred Kudrow, and the pilots All In for NBC, an untitled comedy starring Aisha Tyler for CBS, and Beck and Call for UPN.

Additionally, Is or Isn't produced the 2003 ABC Family film Picking Up and Dropping Off, and Bucatinsky wrote and executive-produced the 2005 CBS pilot The Commuters.

Kudrow's long history at NBC as a costar on the network's hit comedy Friends and her great working relationship with NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly over All In was a factor in the duo's decision to ally with NBC Universal.

The two already are working on their first project under the deal--an adaptation of the book But Enough About Me by Jancee Dunn, which Bucatinsky has optioned for television.

Kudrow and Bucatinsky are setting up meetings with writers from NBC Universal's roster to discuss this and other projects.

Separately from the deal at NBC Universal, Is or Isn't Entertainment has partnered with Project Runway producer Magical Elves Prods. for an unscripted show set in the world of sketch comedy.

The project, which draws on Kudrow and Bucatinsky's experience in sketch comedy early in their careers, is in development at Bravo.