Lowdown getting US adaptation

Another ABC series is having a US adaptation, with a Pilot approval for the Adam Zwar comedy Lowdown on the E! Network.

The comedy about a tabloid entertainment journalist will extend from 30 minutes to a one hour format.

This is the second format adaptation for Adam Zwar, who was an original creator on Wilfred.

Series creators Amanda Brotchie and Adam Zwar will pen the adaptation and executive produce alongside Dave Bartis, Doug Liman and High Wire Film’s Nicole Minchin. Gene Klein will co-executive produce, but the Hollywood Reporter notes Zwar is not currently attached to an onscreen role should the E! version move forward.

The deal with Universal Cable Pictures done was done through Ted Miller at CAA, High Wire’s US lawyer Craig Emanuel and Pippa Lambert at ICM all brokered the initial deal with Universal Cable Pictures. High Wire says the ABC and ABC Commercial were enormously helpful in the final stages of negotiation.

“We’re thrilled to be working with David Bartis and Hypnotic and that Lowdown has found a home on E!,” Brotchie told TV Tonight

“It’s just at pilot stage – and not even that – we’re about to begin the writing process so it’s all ahead of us. The challenge is to reinvent the show as a one hour. The half hour Australian version is pretty plot-heavy, so we think we’ll be ok with the storylines, we’ll just have to drill down into the characters a bit more deeply, ditch the more cartoony elements and generally take ourselves slightly more seriously. Which is going to be very difficult.

“But we’re looking forward to working with Hypnotic and Kevin Plunkett (E!) and excited about the transition to the one hour.”

“Lowdown was High Wire Films’ first project,” says Zwar. “It was such a labour of love to get the show made in the first place, so we’re excited that it gets to live on. We’re grateful to Hypnotic, UCP and E! for their enthusiasm as well as to the Australian cast, crew, investors and the ABC for making it a reality in the first place. With so many celebrities for Alex Burchill to interview, there’s no end to the amount of trouble he’ll be able to get himself into in the US. Can’t wait to see that.”

Nicole Minchin adds, “The US has always felt like the natural next home for Lowdown and we are thrilled to be making the series with Hypnotic and E!”

Lowdown‘s prospects in the US continue a dream run of US adaptations of ABC formats including Rake, Review with Myles Barlow, The Slap, A Moody Christmas, Laid, The Strange Calls while comedies by Josh Thomas and Chris Lilley have been airing in their original forms.