• by Karl Greenberg , June 21, 2007

Procter & Gamble Productions is producing a comedy pilot in tandem with the New York Television Festival. The project--a cross between "American Idol" and "SCTV"--launches with a search for comic talent via a nationwide contest. The goal is to cast a new troupe: The Procter & Gamble Productions Players.

Actors, comedians and improv performers can audition for the group by submitting original short comedy sketches on video. P&G and NY TV workshop will then choose a cast of six to 15 performers who will attend the NYTVF in New York in September. There, they will develop and star in a new comedy pilot, "The Procter & Gamble Productions Comedy Hour," recorded live for an online audience on MSN Video.

TeleVest Daytime Programs, which manages production of soap operas and other television and new media content for PGP, will handle production duties.

As part of the Talent Search, PGP and NYTVF will divide the United States into three regions: Eastern, Central and Western.

To enter, performers in all three regions must record their work on video and upload to the New York Television Festival Web site at nytvf.com/2007_contests_pgp.

The cast, as chosen from user ratings on MSN Soapbox and by panel, will be flown to Manhattan to attend the New York Television Festival, running from Sept 5-10. Once the teams arrive, members will be shuffled from their original teams into three new groups and given 48 hours to create and rehearse three new comedy sketches.

Footage of the work, performed live in front of industry pros alongside backstage interviews, will comprise the TV pilot.

The Procter & Gamble Productions Comedy Hour combines the movements of user-generated content, Web 2.0 interactivity and independent television to create a new sketch-comedy format. It will be available for viewing on MSN Video.