For the first time, Matthew Broderick is going to star in a television series. The actor, who has been sought after for years by various networks,  is now attached to star in NBC’s sitcom pilot, Beach Lane.

The pilot, which was given a green light on Monday, is being produced by UMS, Lorne Michaels’ Broadway Video and writer Paul Simms (NewsRadio), and features Broderick as a celebrity author hired by an irresponsible millionaire to run his struggling small-town newspaper in the Hamptons.

Reportedly, Broderick was approached to do the series months ago but would not make a commitment until he read the completed script. His starring role in a Lorne Michaels’ production comes less than a year after his guest stint on one of Michaels’ other projects, 30 Rock.

Interestingly, even though Broderick has never been a regular in a TV series, one of his most popular movies was actually made into a short-lived series. The 1990 series, Ferris Bueller, starring Jennifer Aniston, was based on Broderick’s hit movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

NBC also picked up the multicamera comedy pilot Perfect Couples Monday.

Couples, from UMS and writers Jon Pollack (30 Rock) and Scott Silveri (Friends), is a romantic comedy about three couples with varying definitions of relationship perfection.