Team Behind Happy Endings Developing a Comedy About a Family of Criminals

David Caspe, the creator of the critically beloved but canceled-after-three-seasons Happy Endings, has an idea about why that show had a relatively short shelf life. In an NBC panel discussion this summer, he said the writers indulged in a few too many “one-percenters” — that is, inside jokes meant for too small an audience. He seems to be acting successfully on this lesson with Marry Me, for which additional episodes were recently ordered, and he’ll presumably apply the same philosophy to a new show he’s creating with two of his Happy Endings collaborators.

Caspe, along with writer Gil Ozeri and producer Jamie Tarses, are developing Frauds, a single-camera comedy for Fox about a family running a Ponzi scheme. Ozeri, in addition to writing for Happy Endings, has also written for Brooklyn Nine-Nine. And Tarses, who from 1996 to 1999 was the first woman to lead ABC’s entertainment division, is also co-producing Marry Me with Caspe.

Details on timing and casting have yet to emerge. In the meantime, let’s hope we’re far enough from the Bernie Madoff scandal that a ponzi scheme can be successfully excavated for humorous material.