After lending their talents to such animated series as The Simpsons, Futurama and Mission Hill, Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein are taking on exec producer duties on the upcoming FOX animated series Sit Down, Shut Up, according to Daily Variety. The deal also includes a blind script commitment for the duo at Sony PicturesTelevision, which is producing the series with Granada USA and Tantamount. Twentieth Century Fox Television is co-producing.
Based on a live-action Australian sit-com, Sit Down, Shut Up takes place at a dysfunctional, small-town high school where self-indulgence on the part of the faculty interferes with the educational process. The series will reunite Arrested Development cast members Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Henry Winkler, who will be joined in the voice cast by Saturday Night Live veterans Cheri Oteri and Will Forte, Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants), Regina King (The Boondocks), Nick Kroll (Cavemen), and Maria Bamford (Barnyard). Animation is being spearheaded by animator and children’s book author Mo Willems, a driving force behind the Cartoon Network series Sheep in the Big City.
Sit Down, Shut Up! was brought to FOX by Arrested Development show runner Mitch Hurwitz, who will serve as an exec producer along with Tantamount partners Eric and Kim Tannenbaum. The network entertained a table read of an episode earlier this month but has not yet announced a commitment to take the project to series. If it does get picked up, animation will be spearheaded by animator and children’s book author Mo Willems, a driving force behind the Cartoon Network series Sheep in the Big City.
It’s also reported that Oakely and Weinstein are collaborating with Avatar: The Last Airbender writer and co-exec producer Aaron Ehasz on an animated Nickelodeon project titled Worst Class Ever. The proposed series takes place at a middle school and will feature comedian Patton Oswald (Ratatouille) in the lead voice role. Oakley and Weinstein will also provide voices, and characters were designed by Oakley.
