Comedian Patton Oswalt has his funny, funny finger in many a pie these days.  In the last year, he starred in Big Fan, popped up in Observe and Report and The Informant!, nabbed recurring roles on cable's United States of Tara and Caprica, and still found time for guest spots on Community, Bored to Death, Flight of the Conchords, and The Venture Bros.

Oswalt was hoping to try a new flavor of pastry in the play Lips Together, Teeth Apart, which would have represented his debut on Broadway (the rhubarb of entertainment venues).  Sadly, according to Variety, that fell apart at the last minute, so Oswalt will return to the apple pie that has long been a staple of stand-up comedians: the network sitcom.  Oswalt will join Matthew Broderick for the NBC comedy pilot Beach Lane, in which he plays a millionaire who hires a famous author (Broderick) to spearhead his fledgling Hamptons newspaper.  Details after the jump:

The talent behind Lane certainly has some promise; in addition to Oswalt and Broderick, comedienne Kristen Johnson of 3rd Rock from the Sun is co-starring in the production.  The sitcom comes from the mind of Paul Simms (creator of  NewsRadio), who scripted episodes of the brilliant Larry Sanders Show as well as the aforementioned Conchords.

The workplace comedy plot sounds suited for a multi-camera setup, although NBC tends to stick to single camera, so I suppose it could go either way.  This marks Oswalt's return to broadcast comedy after 100+ episodes on The King of Queens, which ended its nine-season run in 2007.