Sharon Horgan Comedy Series Ordered By HBO As Network Inks First-Look Deal With ‘Bad Sisters’ Star

Nellie Andreeva
·3-min read

EXCLUSIVE: Sharon Horgan’s followup to Bad Sisters will be for HBO. The WBD network has signed a two-year first-look TV deal with the BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated actor, writer and producer and her production company Merman. Under the pact, which began this month, HBO has given a straight-to-series order to a new comedy written, executive produced by and starring Horgan.

The yet-untitled half-hour, produced by Merman, follows a 50-year-old divorcee’s (Horgan) search for sex and love whilst juggling caring for her ailing parents and parenting her should-be grown up son.

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This marks a return to HBO for Horgan who created and executive produced the network’s 2016 comedy series Divorce, starring Sarah Jessica Parker, which ran for three seasons.

“We’re thrilled to be reunited with Sharon,” Amy Gravitt, EVP, HBO & Max Comedy Programming, said. “Her willingness to offer up her own experiences through the characters she creates makes us all feel a little less lonely, that is what sets her comedy apart so brilliantly. She also has such a sharp eye for material and a strong desire to shepherd other people’s stories, we’re looking forward to the new talent she will bring into the fold.”

Horgan is moving to HBO from Apple where she had a first-look deal. Her series there, the Peabody and BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated Bad Sisters, which she co-developed, executive produces, showruns and stars in, wrapped its second season run in December. Its future is unclear, with renewal discussions still ongoing.

HBO also has coming up Richard Gadd’s next series after his Emmy-winning Netflix series Baby Reindeer, Half Man, and Tim Robinson’s followup to his Emmy-winning Netflix show I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, The Chair Company.

Like Robinson’s The Chair Company and the upcoming Rachel Sennott half-hour, the Sharon Horgan series is a starring vehicle for its creator. HBO, which has been replenishing its comedy roster, has a slate of high-profile new series that also includes a Bill Lawrence comedy starring Steve Carell and a project from the Hacks creators headlined by Kaley Cuoco.

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Horgan has moved between comedy and drama throughout her career so far, which also includes creating and starring in such series as Pulling, Catastrophe, Motherland and spinoff Amandaland.. She has received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for Catastrophe as well as Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for Bad Sisters.

“I’m so happy to once again be working with Casey, Amy, Francesca and the team at HBO, and really excited that Merman get to continue to tell stories for a company that’s been home to some of the most iconic television shows ever created,” Horgan said, acknowledging HBO and Max Content CEO Casey Bloys as well as HBO’s head of drama Francesca Orsi.

Horgan is repped by United Agents in the UK and WME in the U.S., and Nelson Davis.

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