The Pitts: Cancelled FOX Series Gets New Life

FOX is developing a number of new animated series for the 2008-09 season. One of them revolves around a family that is incredibly unlucky called The Pitts. If you were watching FOX four years ago, that may sound a bit familiar.

The Pitts was originally a live-action sitcom and debuted on FOX on March 20, 2003. The series starred Dylan Baker, Kellie Waymire, Lizzy Caplan, and David Henrie as the unluckiest family in the world. The satirical comedy was filled with over-the-top sight gags and, not surprisingly, was created by two writers of The Simpsons – married team Mike Scully and Julie Thacker-Scully. The series lasted only five episodes before FOX cancelled it and left two additional episodes unaired.

Undaunted by the series’ early demise, Scully and Thacker-Scully have never lost faith in the project and kept trying to revive it in pitch sessions. An animated version seemed like a natural and was even discussed during the original series’ writing sessions. Scully says, “It was so close to a cartoon, so we were talking how much easier it would be to execute it if it were animated.”

Two animation scripts have been ordered and casting is currently underway for a table read. If the reading goes well, The Pitts will bypass the development process and go straight to series. Scully quipped, “It will be a new show to America, because so few people saw it outside of our immediate family. It’s a show we’ve always been very fond of.”

It’s unknown if any of the surviving original castmembers will be involved in the project. Waymire died at age 36 on November 13, 2003 of an undiagnosed cardiac arrhythmia. Baker, Caplan, and Henrie are still actively working in television.

Scully hopes the Pitts revival will give hope to other TV show creators. “Maybe it will set a precedent for cancelled live-action series. Maybe next year Studio 60 will come back as a cartoon.” Stay tuned!

More about: The Pitts, The Simpsons

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