Hollywood: ABC Orders Jennifer Lopez Helmed Comedy Based on 'Maid'

Date: 08/13/08 | By Njai Joszor
Filed under: Hollywood, Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez inked a deal with ABC networks this week for a small screen adaptation of her 2002 hit film “Maid In Manhattan.”

According the Hollywood Reporter, Lopez will serve as an executive producer of the hour-long comedy-drama, which has received a pilot commitment. In the 2002 feature, she played a struggling single mother from the Bronx who works as a maid at a swanky Manhattan hotel.

"The show is a different maid in a different Manhattan," said Chad Hodge, who will write the script for the pilot.

The lead in the TV version will still be a young Latina from the Bronx working at a Manhattan hotel who tries to make it in the world. But the series will focus mostly on her relationships with co-workers.

"While the hotel's clientele is an obvious part of this world, I'm more interested in the downstairs part of 'Upstairs, Downstairs,'" Hodge said, referring to the classic British series.

Lopez, a Bronx native, has been very involved, providing "a fountain of ideas," Hodge said. "She will be very integral in the pilot and series," he said.

"Maid" could be a suitable companion for the network's dramedy "Ugly Betty," which also centers on a hardworking young Latina in New York with big dreams.