America, the Mac is back in television.
Comedian Bernie Mac is teaming up with producer Ben Silverman (“The Office,” “The Biggest Loser”) on an unscripted pilot for NBC called “Welcome to the Family.” The show, a reality take on Mac’s 2005 movie “Guess Who,” will follow couples from different religions or ethnic groups who are meeting each other’s families for the first time.
(“Guess Who,” which also starred Ashton Kutcher, was itself a reworking of the 1967 film “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.”)
“It’s all about falling in love, family and learning how to accept someone despite cultural, economic or social differences,” Silverman tells The Hollywood Reporter.
Mac, whose last TV project was “The Bernie Mac Show” on FOX, will narrate “Welcome to the Family” and serve as an executive producer with Silverman. Creator Katy Wallin, showrunner Greg Johnston, Steven Greener and H.T. Owens are also exec producing.
The comedian joined the project at the behest of Marc Abrams and Michael Benson, who wrote for “The Bernie Mac Show” and now work for Silverman’s production company, Reveille.
Mac can currently be seen in the feature film “Pride.” He also appears in “Ocean’s Thirteen” and “Transformers,” both of which are due in theaters this summer.
