Portia de Rossi sitcom ends up at NBC

NBC bought a put pilot from Ellen DeGeneres that would feature theAlly McBeal actress 

as one of two dueling sisters.

The put pilot (if picked up to series for fall of 2012) would mark De Rossi’s return to TV since the (premature!) cancellation of Better Off Ted last year. Her wife DeGeneres would executive produce the pilot through her company A Very Good Production, which is based at WBTV, home to her eponymous talk show via Telepictures.

A put pilot is a project that comes with severe (see: costly) penalties if it doesn’t air — which means this laugher has a great chance of making the cut for next fall.

According to Deadline, all four of the broadcast nets were looking to snag the project before NBC prevailed.