Upfronts: USA Enlists Amy Poehler, Jodie Foster and Carlton Cuse

05.08.2014

​NBCU's cable network USA is investing a lot in comedy this year, adding to its development slate five new scripted shows from the comedic minds of Amy Poehler, Julie Klausner and larger-than-life personality Billy Eichner from "Billy on the Street."

But USA is making perhaps an even bigger bet on darker fare, adding scripted series to its upcoming slate that involve frontier life in North Dakota, a Jodie Foster-starrer about a born-again Christian, a near-future sci-fi drama, an anti-social computer programmer with an alter ego and the story of a Mexican drug cartel trying to avoid authorities.

The five comedy orders, six dramas and two limited series join a schedule that is slowly filling up with more dramatic fare. "Rush" and "Satisfaction" will debut this summer, and the network just announced that it's picked up "Stanistan," a series about government workers in a fictional Middle Eastern country.

"This slate represents the next generation of originals at USA, with a focus on dramas that are more serialized, provocative and culturally resonant," said Chris McCumber, president of USA Network. Read more at Broadcasting & Cable and Ad Age.

Brief Take: USA's new slate of programming veers away from its light-hearted summer series set in beach towns with sunny skies, moving toward darker fare that has worked for fellow cable nets like AMC and FX.