ABC is developing a pilot for a US remake of the British comedy series, “Motherland”, which is going by the working title of “Drop-Off” and is going to star “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s” Ellie Kemper, who will also be an executive producer. The new show will also star Karan Soni (Deadpool) and Judy Greer (Reboot).

“Drop-Off ” will centre around Julia (Kemper), a working mom for whom nothing is working, so she goes looking for her village. With the help of new friends Calvin (Soni) and Liz, Julia discovers she just might succeed at balancing work and parenting from time to time. This is a comedy for anybody who’s dropped their kids at school, breathed a sigh of relief … then realized it’s Sunday.

According to Deadline, Michaela Conlin has also joined the cast of the pilot and is going to be playing the role of Liz, who is another single mom at Julia’s (Kemper) kids’ school. She’s cool, doesn’t care (but she loves her kids, 7-year-old Danny and the baby). Unlike Calvin and Julia, Liz doesn’t like the inner circle of moms at their kids’ school and doesn’t want to be part of them. Liz lives a bit of an alternative lifestyle — there’s pretty much nothing in her apartment except a giant mattress on the floor — and her breezy disregard for the status quo is comforting to both Calvin and Julia. Michaela Conlin has previously starred in “Bones” and the Hulu/Star Original, “Dollface”.

Julieanne Smolinski is writing the series, and she will also be an executive producer, along with Sharon Mountford, Stacy Greenberg and Kira Carstensen for Merman Television, Paul Feig and Dan Magnante for Feigco Entertainment as well as Holly Walsh and Helen Serafinowicz.

The show is being created by Also working on the project are Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountford’s Merman Television, Paul Feig’s Feigco Entertainment, Lionsgate and ABC Signature. While Michael Showalter will direct the pilot, he has previously worked on “The Big Sick”.

The original “Motherland” series is set in a middle-class suburb of London and stars Anna Maxwell Martin (A Spy Among Friends) as the disorganized Julia, Diane Morgan (Cunk on Earth) as single mother Liz and Paul Ready as stay-at-home dad Kevin Brady. The trio are a group of misfits parents, joined in later seasons by Tanya Moodie’s crazy working mom Meg, fighting against the mean girls, including Lucy Punch’s Amanda, while dealing with school politics.

Should the pilot get the greenfight, we should expect to see the show released on ABC and Hulu in the US and internationally as a Star Original on Disney+.

Are you looking forward to a “Motherland” remake? Let us know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

View all posts