ABC Nabs ‘Cupcake Men’ Comedy From Owen Smith, Lee Daniels & Michael Strahan As Put Pilot

ABC has given a put pilot commitment to Cupcake Men, a comedy from writer Owen Smith (Black-ish), Empire‘s Lee Daniels, Good Morning America co-host and former NFL star Michael Strahan, 20th Century Fox TV, where Daniels is based, and ABC Studios.

Written by Smith, Cupcake Men is inspired by the real life story of former Tennessee Titans Brian Orakpo and Michael Griffin who, along with their childhood friend Bryan Hynson, opened a cupcake shop in Austin, TX, most notably featured in the 2019 Microsoft Surface Pro Commercial.

Having lived his entire life in the shadows of his recently retired NFL player brothers Mo and Quo, eldest brother and owner of Austin’s most popular cupcake food truck AJ Petty is anxious to finally take the mantle as “most-accomplished son” by opening his first brick-and-mortar store. However, when the three brothers shockingly discover that they all own a stake in the business, they must learn to work together despite their clashing approaches on how to run a business and tricky sibling dynamics.

Smith executive produces with Daniels and Marc Velez for Lee Daniels Entertainment, and Strahan and Constance Schwartz-Morini for SMAC Productions. SMAC’s Thea Mann is co-executive producer. Lee Daniels Entertainment and SMAC Productions produce in association with 20th Century Fox TV and ABC Studios, divisions of Disney TV Studios.

Smith’s writing-producing credits include Black-ish and Survivor’s Remorse.

WME and Ziffren Brittenham represented SMAC Productions in the deal.