• The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Monday, March 5, 2007 11:30 AM

Walt Disney Co.'s ABC will pay for the production of a pilot for a show about a trio of prehistoric characters--based on Geico's cavemen characters--who battle prejudice in modern-day Atlanta. There's no script or cast yet, but plans call for the comedy to be titled "Cavemen."

The characters have achieved celebrity status, thanks, in part, to Geico's enormous ad budget. More recently, the caveman has been showing up outside ads. Eight days ago, an actor dressed as a caveman appeared at the Ocars. Last month, a caveman played golf with football analyst Phil Simms during his Super Bowl pregame show on CBS.

A spokeswoman for ABC Television Studio cautioned that there is no guarantee "Cavemen" will result in a prime-time show. If the series does make it to air, it will leave the Geico's famed Green Gecko behind, which is more popular than the cavemen, but has no spinoff in the works. "Evidently the Gecko doesn't have the right agent," says Ted Ward, Geico's vice president of marketing.

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