CBS renews Lorre duo, cancels Unicorn

United States of Al was created by The Big Bang Theory’s David Goetsch and Maria Ferrari

US broadcast network CBS has renewed two Chuck Lorre Productions comedies for second seasons and cancelled fellow comedy the Unicorn after its second run.

B Positive and The United States of Al, both of which are produced by The Big Bang Theory creator Lorre’s prodco, will return as part of CBS’s Thursday comedy line-up.

B Positive is about two people from each other’s past who reconnect and bond again as one agrees to donate her kidney to the other, a recently divorced dad.

Marco Pennette and Jim Patterson are executive producers and co-showrunners on the show. AT&T-owned Warner Bros Television produces in association with Chuck Lorre Productions, with Lorre also exec producing.

The United States of Al was created by David Goestch and Maria Ferrari and is about an Afghanistan vet struggling to return to real life before he is reunited with his squad’s interpreter, who has just moved to the US.

Goestch, Ferrari and Lorre exec produce the series alongside Reza Aslan and Mayhad Tousi. Another copro between Lorre’s company and Warner Bros Television, the show was picked up by Canadian network Global TV in March.

Both shows will be hoping to last longer than Walton Goggins-fronted single-camera comedy The Unicorn, which has been cancelled by the CBS after two seasons. The show centres on a bereaved father whose friends and family help him get back into the world of dating after a year in mourning.

Bill Martin, Mike Schiff, Aaron Kaplan, Dana Honor, Wendi Trilling, Peyton Reed and John Hamburg are the executive producers.

CBS has also cancelled courtroom drama All Rise after two seasons on the network. The show, which focuses on a newly appointed female judge, was created and exec produced by Greg Spottiswood.