ABC is looking to take the working relationship between Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest and turn it into a potential series. The network has handed out a pilot order for Work Wife, based on Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest who headline Live with Kelly & Ryan on ABC.
The single-camera comedy is also based on the longtime writing-producing team, The Real O’Neals co-creators David Windsor and Casey Johnson. Todd Holland (The Real O’Neals) has been tapped to direct the pilot, from Seacrest’s Ryan Seacrest Productions, Ripa and Mark Consuelos’ Milojo Productions and ABC Studios, where both Ryan Seacrest Prods and Milojo Prods are based.
Work Wife will follow the story of a platonic male/female team whose professional success, personal friendship and ability to share deodorant makes their lives work. Set in the world of real estate, Dani and Scott have taken the leap to start their own team. Now feeling the stress of being the boss, they have to rely on the yin-yang of their dynamic more than ever to keep their professional and personal lives afloat.
Work Wife was originally intended to be set up during the 2018-19 development season with a put pilot commitment and Michael Ian Black as a writer. Ripa and Seacrest were the first to bring the concept to ABC but the concept was redeveloped this season with Windsor and Johnson, who also drew upon their own “work wife” experiences.
Ryan Seacrest, who is a longtime friend of Kelly Ripa, joined Kelly as co-host and fellow executive producer on the Disney|ABC syndicated entertainment TV talk show Live with Kelly & Ryan in 2017. Seacrest also hosts American Idol on ABC and is the host and executive producer of ABC’s annual program Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest.
