The summer lull — just after May sweeps mania and before the fall TV season — is when networks like testing out iffy new material. Case in point: Come to Papa, an NBC sitcom starring stand-up comic Tom Papa. Basically, he plays a suburban New Jersey newspaper reporter who dreams of a life less ordinary as a comedy writer. How'd this unknown land such a plum gig? Well, his showbiz connections — particularly ex-NBC golden boy Jerry Seinfeld — didn't exactly hurt.
"I'm friends with Jerry. He kind of discovered me in the [comedy] clubs about five years ago, and I have been on tour with him," Papa explains, adding hopefully, "Seinfeld also debuted in the summer, so maybe that's a good omen. It's kind of strange how we've mirrored the same route he's taken. He had a pilot and it took a while to get up on its feet. Once it did, it was supposed to [debut] in the spring and they moved it to the summer, the same way that we did.
read more
