HBO Picks Up E1 Dark Comedy

TORONTO, January 12: HBO has ordered ten episodes of the new dark comedy Hung from Entertainment One (E1) for a June 2009 premiere.

E1 will act as a producer on the series, and HBO will retain the international distribution rights. Created by writing partners and real-life married couple Colette Burson (writer/director of Coming Soon) and Dmitry Lipkin (creator and head writer of The Riches), Hung stars Thomas Jane as a struggling, but remarkably well-endowed, high-school basketball coach who figures out a way to use his best asset.

Alexander Payne (Sideways), who directed the pilot, will stay on as an executive producer on the series, along with Lipkin, Burson and Entertainment One TV executives Michael Rosenberg, Noreen Halpern and John Morayniss.

Morayniss, the CEO of E1’s television group, commented, "We’re thrilled that Hung has found a home at HBO. HBO helped spark the renaissance that has pushed TV usage to an all-time high, and this deal with them helps solidify Entertainment One’s position as a real player in TV production."

The sale marks the first U.S. series pickup for Entertainment One TV, which recently scored a deal with CTV for 11 one-hour episodes of The Bridge. Canwest also just commissioned a pilot for E1’s Shattered.

—By Kristin Brzoznowski