Start Up: Zach Braff to Star in Family Comedy Pilot for ABC

Deadline reports Zach Braff is heading back to TV. He is starring in and will direct the Start Up TV show pilot for ABC, written by Matt Tarses. The new comedy project is based on Alex Blumberg’s “Start Up” podcast. Both Tarses and Braff are veterans of the Scrubs TV series, which ran for 7 seasons on NBC before being cancelled.

ABC picked up the surreal hospital sitcom for and eighth and what was supposed to the final season. Much of the regular cast had already moved on when the network decided to renew it for a ninth. Original cast members, including Braff, appeared from time to time, but ultimately, the revamped show didn’t gel and ABC cancelled Scrubs (aka Scrubs: Interns) in 2010, at the end of season nine.

Tarses and Braff’s new show is not to be confused with the StartUp TV series drama on Crackle, starring Martin Freeman and Adam Brody. Deadine expects the Tarses/Braff comedy to end up with a new title.

The Start Up comedy project hails from Sony TV/Davis Entertainment. Per Deadline, it received a put-pilot commitment (which means financial penalties if it doesn’t air) from ABC.

Here is more, from Deadline:

[Start Up] is a show about all the things that happen — the good, the bad and the ugly — when a guy (Braff) in his mid-30s with a wife and two kids makes the crazy decision to quit his good job and dive into the brave new world of starting a business. […]

Tarses and Braff executive produce with Davis Entertainment’s John Davis and John Fox as well as Gimlet Media’s Chris Giliberti, Alex Blumberg and Matt Lieber. Braff will direct the potential pilot. Davis Entertainment executive Mike Stein found the podcast and brought it to the company.

Tarses was a consulting producer on the Men at Work sitcom, which ran for 30 episodes over the course of three seasons, before being cancelled by TBS.

What do you think? Do you like the sound of the Start Up TV series pilot? Who else would you like to see cast?