Comedy Central developing Amp'd Mobile's "Lil' Bush" for primetime

The Amp'd Mobile animated satire "Lil' Bush: Resident of the United States," a series of five-minute clips written and produced by "The Simpsons" veteran Donick Cary, will make the leap from mobile TV to a primetime slot on cable's Comedy Central, becoming the first original entertainment series produced for the wireless platform to graduate to a U.S. television network.

"What's exciting as a developer is that content can come from so many places these days," said Lauren Corrao, executive VP of original programming and development at Comedy Central, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "The great thing is that a broadcast showrunner like Donick can have a passion project that gets to percolate in a shortform venue that gets enough attention for others to take notice."

Comedy Central plans to premiere the first 30-minute weekly episode of "Lil' Bush" in the summer of 2007, possibly in the 10:30 p.m. EST sweet spot between network perennials "South Park" and "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." "Lil' Bush" debuted on Amp'd in September, also appearing on the online video sites YouTube and Break.com; according to Amp'd, the series pilot was Break.com's number one video throughout the month, with viewership exceeding one million. Comedy Central's parent company Viacom is an investor in Amp'd, while Cary also serves as executive producer of the network's upcoming series "The Naked Trucker and T-Bones Show."

If any network understands how to midwife this kind of project from viral phenomenon to mainstream hit, it's Comedy Central. After all, "South Park" began as a video Christmas card commissioned by network exec Brian Graden, now president of programming at Viacom properties MTV, VH1 and CMT, who was instrumental in helping creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone develop their original animated short into what would quickly become Comedy Central's flagship series. If "Lil' Bush" is to be the standard by which subsequent mobile-to-mainstream transitions are judged, it's in good hands from a network perspective--now let's hope it's funny and edgy enough to keep the "South Park" audience from tuning out.

For more on the Amp'd/Comedy Central deal:
- read this Hollywood Reporter article

Related article:
- Amp'd bolsters content lineup