CBS has found beauty in "Fugly," ordering a pilot for an old script from the creator of "My Name Is Earl."
The project revolves around three homely siblings in North Carolina -- identical twin sisters and a brother -- who pool their inheritance to buy one of the sisters an extreme makeover. The three then move to Hollywood with dreams of profiting off her newfound good looks.
"What I love about the show is that it's about a family that's always been on the outside looking in, watching other people being successful," said creator Greg Garcia. "They ultimately decide that they need to be beautiful to achieve their dreams."
Similarly to "Earl" -- which was twice turned down by Fox in 2003 before NBC brought it back during the 2004-05 development season -- Garcia wrote "Fugly" for Fox during the same 2004-05 season, but the script was not picked up to pilot by the network.
"I write a script, (Fox) passes on it, it sits on the shelf for two years, and then someone else shoots it," Garcia quipped. "Hopefully, it's the formula to success."
"Fugly," whose title refers to the schoolyard slang word that is short for "f---ing ugly," originally was developed as a starring vehicle for Pamela Anderson, who had a talent deal at Fox during the 2004-05 development cycle. She ended up attached to the comedy "Stacked," which ran for a couple of seasons.
"Fugly" landed at CBS because of Garcia's relationship with the network, where he co-created and executive produced the long-running comedy "Yes, Dear."
Garcia will executive produce the pilot, which is slated to be shot in March after "Earl" wraps production on its second season. He won an Emmy this year for writing the pilot for "Earl," and notably "thanked" people who had hindered his progress.
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Nellie Andreeva writes for The Hollywood Reporter.
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