ABC has picked up a television comedy
inspired by Robbie Rogers.
Deadline Hollywood reported that
Men In Shorts is headed to ABC, though few details about the
deal were reported.
Rogers is Major League Soccer's (MLS)
first openly gay player.
Last year, Rogers announced that he's
gay and was retiring from professional soccer. But within months –
after a feared backlash failed to materialize – Rogers returned to
the sport, joining the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Storyline Entertainment, the production
company run by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, both of whom are openly
gay, and Universal Television optioned rights for the comedy in July.
Zadan and Meron, whose projects often involve LGBT themes, will
produce the upcoming Oscars, marking their third consecutive turn.
“The comedy will chronicle how the
soccer player's teammates and friends interact with him after his
coming out and how they start evaluating their own secrets that are
keeping them from 'being happier and more authentic,'” Deadline
Hollywood wrote.
“Really excited to be part of this,”
Rogers tweeted to this more than 226,000 followers on Twitter.
Men in Shorts is written by
Jordon Nardino (Desperate Housewives) and Claudia Lonow, who
is best known for playing Diana Fairgate for five years on the CBS
series Knots Landing. Lonow will also executive produce the
show.