Inspired by Bayer's own story of overcoming childhood leukemia, the comedy centers on Joanna Gold (Bayer), who dreams of becoming a host at a home-shopping channel. Working to shed her lifelong label as "that cancer girl," she moves away from her parents, starts a budding romance for the first time in her adult life and forms a meaningful friendship with her idol Jackie (Shannon), all against the backdrop of a highly competitive workplace run by an unstable billionaire, where people play dirty to succeed.
In addition to Bayer and Shannon, the comedy also stars Paul James, Ayden Mayeri, Matthew Rogers and Punam Patel.
Cybill Shepherd co-starred in the original pilot. Her role will be recast for the upcoming series.
Bayer and Jeremy Beiler wrote the pilot, which was directed by Michael Showalter. They will executive produce with showrunner Jessi Klein, Megan Ellison, Sue Naegle, Jordana Mollick and Allyce Ozarski. Annapurna Television and Semi-Formal Productions will produce.
"Vanessa Bayer channels her beloved personality into an underdog part that is both close to her heart and universally relatable," said Jana Winograde, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks. "Combined with the immense talents of executive producers Jeremy Beiler, Jessi Klein and Michael Showalter and a tremendous cast, Vanessa's comedic brilliance as a performer, co-creator and executive producer have yielded an offbeat, emotional and laugh-out-loud series that we can't wait to bring to our Showtime audiences."
"I'm so thrilled to be making this show with Showtime and that all of my hours of home shopping as a kid are finally paying off!" added Bayer. "It's been an absolute dream, and my co-creator, Jeremy Beiler, and I are so grateful to the entire creative team we feel so lucky to work with."
