EXCLUSIVE: CBS is developing Zarna, a multi-camera comedy starring standup comedian Zarna Garg. The project, which drew interest from multiple networks, comes from The Big C creator Darlene Hunt, Mindy Kaling‘s Kaling International, Kevin Hart‘s Hartbeat and Warner Bros. Television where Kaling International is under an overall deal.
In Zarna, written by Garg and Hunt, Zarna (Garg) is a proud immigrant woman who’s been raising her American born kids on Indian values. But now that they’re getting older, it’s time for her to focus on her own American dream.
The story reflects Garg’s own story. She immigrated from her native India to the US as a teenager and, after getting BA and JD degrees, spent 16 years as a stay-at-home mom before her children encouraged her to try standup, launching her comedy career.
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Zarna’s experience draws parallels to that of Leanne Morgan who also embarked on a standup career after raising a family and now is headlining a multi-cam comedy from another veteran comedy writer-producer, Chuck Lorre, at Netflix.
Hunt, who serves as showrunner, and Garg executive produce Zarna with Kaling and Jessica Kumai Scott via Kaling International; Howard Klein via 3 Arts; as well as Hart, Bryan Smiley and Mike Stein via Hartbeat.
Garg’s relationship with Hart dates back to 2021 when she won his comedy competition Lyft Comics on Peacock.
Meanwhile, Gang wrote on social media in May about meeting Kaling for the first time. (You can see the post below.) Gang, who was with her daughter, must have made an impression as, just four months later, a project she and Kaling are teamed up on has sold to a network.
At CBS, Warner Bros. TV has had a string of comedy series from Lorre, the latest being the upcoming Young Sheldon spinoff Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage. Figuring a drama business template between the two companies has proven more challenging, with a Cold Case reboot the latest project that didn’t make it past the deal-making stage.
Gang was featured in the 2022 Apple TV+ series Gutsy hosted by Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton. Her debut comedy special, Zarna Garg: One in a Billion, debuted on Prime Video last year.
The Indian immigrant experience is often reflected in Kaling’s work, most notably on her Netflix series Never Have I Ever.
Hunt recently developed and executive produced the Fox comedy series Call Me Kat, which was based on a British format.