ABC Looks to Former ‘Friends’ Producers for Its Next Two Comedies

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FRIENDS -- "The One with the Lesbian Wedding" Episode 11 -- Air Date 01/18/1996 -- Pictured: (l-r) Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer as Ross Geller, Courteney Cox as Monica Geller, Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing, Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani (Photo by Paul Drinkwater/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

ABC is turning to two Friends alums for its next batch of comedy pilots.

Both shows greenlighted on Monday revolve around unconventional family units:  Pearl, about a family matriarch with cancer, and Speechless, about a special-needs child.

Andrew Reich is the writer/executive producer behind Pearl, a single-camera show from ABC Studios TV. Here’s the logline: “When a larger-than-life family matriarch finds out she has cancer, she becomes intent on controlling and orchestrating every aspect of her family’s life before she dies.”

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Scott Silveri is the executive producer and writer on Speechless, from 20th Century Fox TV. Here’s the logline: A family with a special-needs child is good at dealing with the challenges it faces and excellent at creating new ones.

The show is also single camera. The Grinder executive producers Jake Kasdan and Melvin Mar are also executive producers on Speechless.

Both Reich and Silveri were executive producers on Friends. Reich’s other credits include Worst Week, Super Fun Night and Work It, while Silveri was behind Go On and Perfect Couples.