Sitcom Creators Mine Laughs From Their Real Lives

FRAZIER MOORE

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) ⿿ Got a goofy older brother? Parents you still live with even though you're grown up? An unconventional friendship?

If so, you're too late to turn those ideas into a hit sitcom.

But while you comb your life for something else to fuel a comedy that a network will love, consider three fall sitcoms spawned from the personal lives of their creators.

CBS' "Partners" explores the lifelong friendship of Louis, who's gay, and Joe, who's straight, as they navigate their architecture business and their respective romantic ties. Their best-friends dynamic is inspired by the friendship of Max Mutchnick and David Kohan, who met in high school and, after partnering as TV producers, co-created shows including the megahit "Will & Grace."

There's no attempt to hide the lineage of Fox's "Ben & Kate." It's the tale of a freewheeling brother, Ben, who comes back into the life of his single-mother younger sister, Kate, to serve as a surrogate dad while continuing his lifelong role as a mischievous child. The show is based on the relationship of its creator, Dana Fox, with her own big brother, whose name is, yes, Ben.

Meanwhile, ABC's "How to Live with Your Parents for the Rest of Your Life" finds a young mom from a broken marriage seeking refuge at her parents' with her young daughter. It was drawn from the domestic situation of creator Claudia Lonow, who well into adulthood and despite career success (including producing the sitcom "Less than Perfect"), continues to live with parents she describes as "charismatic," ''super entertaining" and "very weird."

"I've been living there for 15 years, and I've been (developing) the show for about 12," Lonow told reporters this week at the Television Critics Association conference.

Like Polly (played by Sarah Chalke), who descends on TV parents Brad Garrett and Elizabeth Perkins, "I did show up at their doorstep and say, 'I hope this isn't a bad time for YOU, because it is for ME.'

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