Hockey Comedy ‘Benders’ From Apostle Gets IFC Series Order

IFC has given an official green light to Apostle’s hockey comedy project Uncle Chubby’s, which has been given an official title, Benders. The network has ordered eight half-hour episodes of the comedy, which had been on track for a series pickup for the past couple of months. Benders follows several friends bonded by an irrational obsession for their beer-swilling amateur hockey league. “Hockey knowledge not required, these guys are all about their beer and their bros,” said IFC president Jennifer Caserta.

Denis Leary and Jim Serpico’s Apostle is producing, with Serpico, Leary and Apostle SVP Tom Sellitti executive producing. Serpico and Sellitti created and will write Benders, which begins production in the spring.

Benders expands Apostle’s business with IFC where the company also has has comedy Maron, which will return for a third season this year. Elsewhere, Apostle has upcoming FX comedy series Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll, which stars Leary, and sophomore USA comedy Sirens.

In addition to Maron, Benders joins IFC’s roster of scripted comedies that include Portlandia, Comedy Bang! Bang!, The Spoils Before Dying, American Documentary (wt) and The Increasingly Poor Decisions Of Todd Margaret.

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