FX Greenlights New George Lopez Series

Actor/Comedian George Lopez will return to primetime TV in a new FX comedy series, the network announced Thursday.

The series, Saint George, stars Lopez as a recently divorced, Mexican-American entrepreneur who struggles to balance his personal life with his business endeavors while teaching night school history class, said FX. Saint George marks Lopez’s first starring role in a sitcom since his long-running ABC series, George Lopez.

FX has ordered 10 episodes of Saint George from Lionsgate Television distribution company Debmar-Mercury, which will balloon to a 90-episode order if the series meets certain ratings thresholds. The deal is similar to such other Debmar-Mercury shows as Anger Management, Tyler Perry’s House of Payne and Meet The Browns.

“George Lopez is an incredibly gifted actor-producer and one of the most talented comedians in the business,” said Chuck Saftler, Executive Vice President for FX Networks in a statement. “The 10/90 model requires a unique individual who has the ability to pull off this kind of daunting schedule. George is that guy and we couldn’t be happier that he chose FX as the home for his new project.” 

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.