Dramatic powerhouse Viola Davis is turning to comedy for ABC. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Davis is developing a single-camera comedy for the network called “The Zipcoders.”
“The Zipcoders,” THR writes, is “based on an an original idea about a group of black teens growing up in Texas and their quest to form a band like The Beatles.” It follows “a divorced mother of three in 1968 who moves her family to the east side of Austin, Texas, soon after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., in an effort to be closer to her estranged sister. Once there, her teenage son forms a rock ’n’ roll band to the utter bewilderment of friends, family, and the community at large.”
Davis developed the idea with her JuVee Productions partner and Husband Julius Tennon. The two were “inspired to tell a story about a group of African-American teens with feathered hair and bell-bottoms in the middle of the Deep South.” Marshall Todd (“Barbershop”) came on board to write the script and will be credited as an executive producer.
“This project gives me the opportunity to tell a story that, while specific to the African-American experience, doesn’t travel in the usual tropes,” Todd said. “As a parent, I was inspired to tell a story from the dual perspective of parents and children in a world where the rules are constantly changing. Music has always been a passion of mine, and to be able to use it to inform this particular narrative was a provocative challenge. I have found in Viola and the squad at JuVee the perfect co-conspirators dedicated to telling the types of stories that entertain while contributing to the larger cultural conversation.”
“In the tradition of ABC’s ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ and ‘Black-ish,’ ‘The Zipcoders’ offers a compelling and comical take on a family dealing with rapidly changing cultural attitudes,” said JuVee head of TV Andrew Wang. “This is a show about following your own path, and it’s a love letter to all the musical and artistic trailblazers who dared to be different and shifted the paradigm.”
“‘The Zipcoders’ is near and dear to my heart. Viola and I love what Marshall Todd put on the page — the world, the characters, and a fun-loving take on music, relationships, dreams, and family,” Tennon said.
In addition to this project for ABC, Davis stars on the network’s Shondaland drama “How to Get Away with Murder,” for which she became the first black woman to win the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama.
She recently appeared in “Suicide Squad” and will no doubt earn awards buzz for her upcoming role in “Fences,” in which she plays the same role that won her a Tony Award on stage. She’s also recently signed on to star in “The Personal History Of Rachel Dupree” and “Widows.”
