DRG Lines Up Series Launch, Scores New Pickups

LONDON: The TV Land sitcom Retired at 35 has been picked up for prime time by a number of broadcasters through deals signed by DRG, which is launching a new comedy at MIPTV and has wrapped up a range of sales for its other titles ahead of the market. 

DRG has sold the first season of Retired at 35, produced by TV Land, to Fox in Italy, Mnet in South Africa, TV4 in Sweden and Finland, ZoomerMedia in Canada and Mediavera for Turkey. Home-entertainment company Madman Entertainment took the show for DVD and Blu-ray release in Australia and New Zealand. The new sales come alongside a second-season commission from TV Land. 

The Channel 4 long-running comedy Shameless is also headed to new broadcasters, thanks to DRG. The show, already distributed in 90 territories, has now also been picked up by Turner Entertainment (Latin America and Spain), TV3 (Spain) SIC Portugal and ABC for DVD in Australia and New Zealand.

BBC Three’s Lip Service has secured prime-time slots across a host of networks, including AXN in Spain, Fox in Italy, Showtime in Australia, Super Channel in canada and TF6 in France. The new sales come on the heels of the launch of the show on HBO in Latin America. 

New to the DRG slate, Campus is a 6×1-hour comedy set to make its debut at MIPTV. Produced by Monicker Pictures, the series is premiering on Channel 4 in a 10 p.m. slot this April. The show is set within an ever-failing university that is run by an eccentric staff. 

Patrick Roberts, the senior VP of international sales at DRG, said of the deals for Retired at 35, “Retired at 35 has proven to be a huge success for TV Land in the U.S.A. and we’re delighted to announce the first in an exciting slate of deals for the hit sitcom. Retired at 35 has increased TV Land’s target audience numbers by an impressive 112 percent vs. year ago in its Wednesday at 10:30 p.m. time slot. The second-season order underlines the fantastic following the show has achieved in the U.S., which we’re confident will be replicated in the local territories of our international buyers.”

On the new launch for Campus, Roberts commented: “We’re all incredibly excited to be launching Campus to our international partners. One of the funniest and most innovative comedies you will have seen, Victoria Pile has created a world bursting with some of the most insane but loveable characters British television has seen. The brilliant Smack the Pony and Green Wing series were incredibly successful for DRG worldwide. We all feel extremely confident that Campus is set to be one of the U.K.’s biggest and most talked about comedy exports in 2011.”