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IFC orders 3 comedy pilots for fall, jumping into late-night arena

"Commununity" creator/executive producer Dan Harmon, far right, will host a historical comedy panel show on IFC this fall titled "Great Minds."

“Commununity” creator/executive producer Dan Harmon, far right, will host a historical comedy panel show on IFC this fall titled “Great Minds.”

(Michael Kovac / Getty Images)
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IFC is getting into the unscripted area with the help of “Community’s” Dan Harmon, comedian Jim Norton and a predominantly female team of correspondents.

The cable network has ordered three comedy pilots -- a historical panel show, a late-night talker and a satirical news magazine -- slated to begin shooting this fall, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

The former “Community” showrunner will head up and host “Great Minds,” a panel show with a historical twist created by “The Daily Show’s” Richard Korson.

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In each episode, comedians will join Harmon in character as history’s “greatest minds,” such as Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt and Frederick Douglass. “The Daily Show’s” Rory Albanese, “SNL’s” Robert Smigel, “Women Aren’t Funny’s” Bonnie McFarlane and “Mulaney’s” Seaton Smith will guest star in the pilot playing the above historical heavyweights, respectively.

With his attention now on “Great Minds,” it’s unclear if Harmon’s cult comedy “Community,” which was canceled by NBC after five seasons and then picked up by Yahoo! Screen, will return for a seventh season.

Acerbic comic Norton will host the cable channel’s upcoming half-hour, late-night talker, which is still untitled. The talk show promises “lively banter and unfiltered viewpoints with today’s top entertainers from comedy, TV, movies, music, film and culture,” IFC said. Norton and Suzanne Fagel of “Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell” will executive produce.

“1320 Seconds,” IFC’s satirical news-magazine show, will be hosted by Sara Schaefer and feature “an ensemble of female correspondents (plus one man to make everyone feel OK about this dangerous concept) who investigate and comment on the cultural zeitgeist,” the network said.

Schaefer serves as executive producer along with Jon Zimelis, Jason Nadler, and Alex Blagg of Serious Business.

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Last week, the network showcased three of its new night comedies at the Television Critics Assn. Summer press tour in Beverly Hills. The Thursday night block of programming premiers Oct. 1 and includes Seth Meyers, Bill Hader and Fred Armisen’s documentary spoof “Documentary Now!,” hockey comedy “Benders” and David Krumholtz-starrer “Gigi Does It,” which features Krumholtz in character as his unfiltered grandmother.

Follow me on Twitter @NardineSaad.

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