1600 Penn may be set in the most famous residence in the US – The White House – but the show’s cast and producers have insisted that it’s not a political show. ‘How on earth can a show set in The White House NOT be political?’ you may well ask… well, according to the show’s co-creator Josh Gad, it’s all about the family that live there and the pressures that they’re under, trying to live their life under the intense glare of the media.

“It’s absolutely, absolutely not a political show, and I can’t emphasize that enough,” Gad told the Washington Post, who continued “We never set out to make a political show. . . . We wanted to make a show about a family that happens to live in a world where they are surrounded by politics.” Instead of a strong political bent, what you get is a comedy based on a dysfunctional family – brought to you by Modern Family’s Jason Winer, Men of a Certain Age’s Mike Royce and Jon Lovett, a former speechwriter for President Obama, just in case you were worried that the reality of life in the White House would be completely overlooked in the pursuit of a cheap laugh.

1600 Penn will star Bill Pullman as the president and Jenna Elfman as his wife and step-mom to his kids (much of the comedy will come from Elfman trying to win her step-kids affections, it would seem). The pilot airs Monday, December 17, 2012 at 9:30pm on NBC and the official series will run on Thursdays at 9:30pm, from January 10, 2013.