A drama based on Jhumpa Lahiri’s collection of short stories, Unaccustomed Earth, has been ordered to series at Netflix from showrunner, writer, and executive producer John Wells (The Pitt, Shameless) and writer/EP Madhuri Shekar (3 Body Problem, The Nevers).
The writer’s room has been up and running since February and is close to completion on the eight-episode first season, sources close to production tell Deadline, who have been tracking the show’s progress since early March.
The official logline reads, Unaccustomed Earth is an epic and culturally vibrant drama about a tight-knit Indian American community navigating love, desire, and belonging. Rich with nuance, passion, and unforgettable characters, Unaccustomed Earth invites you into the elite and insular Indian-American community of Cambridge, MA. When a star-crossed romance between a devoted wife and her long-lost love comes to light, a scandalous affair is born, and new battle lines are drawn in this intensely interconnected immigrant community.
Nisha Ganatra (Freakier Friday, Late Night), who optioned the book and developed the series, will also direct the pilot episode and executive produce. Wells executive produces through his John Wells Productions overall deal with Warner Bros. Television, the studio behind Unacustomed Earth. In addition to Wells, Shekar, and Ganatra, EPs also include Jhumpa Lahiri, Erica Saleh, Erin Jontow, and Celia Costas.
Wells is coming off a huge success with his new medical drama, Max’s The Pitt, created and executive produced by R. Scott Gemmill. Wells and series star Noah Wyle, also executive-produced the series, among others. The Pitt recently concluded its 15-episode first season earlier this month to strong ratings and rave reviews. His credits are a wide swath of TV’s biggest hits, including The West Wing, ER, Third Watch, and Southland, all for NBC, Showtime’s Shameless, and TNT’s Animal Kingdom. He is repped at CAA.
Shekar’s play A Nice Indian Boy, starring Karan Soni and Jonathan Groff, was recently adapted into a feature film, which premiered at SXSW and is currently in theaters. She also wrote the film Evil Eye for Amazon and Blumhouse, starring Sunita Mani, based on her original audio play. Her produced TV credits include Netflix’s 3 Body Problem and HBO’s The Nevers. She is repped by Redefine Entertainment, IAG, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.
