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), Michaela Conlin (Dollface) 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.

Deadline has revealed that Nancy Lenehan has also joined the cast of the show.  Nancy has previously starred in Prime Video’s “A League Of Their Own”, HBO Max’s “Generation”, ABC’s “Bless This Mess”, and HBO’s “Veep”.

Nancy Lenehan will be playing the role of Marianne. Warm, loving, responsible, the kind of person who has rocks in her garden with platitudes chiseled on them, Marianne is Julia’s mother, who’s been taking care of her kids since the oldest was a baby — and that’s six years now. Having been a working single mom herself, Marianne is not without compassion for Julia’s situation and she loves her grandchildren, but she’s done. Marianne has decided to live her own life from now on, and that includes having an affair with a guy named Rene and firmly taking some time for herself.

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. Michael Showalter will be directing the pilot, and 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

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