Yesterday, we learned that NBC's fertility-clinic drama "Inconceivable" was partly inspired by the experiences of co-creator Marco Pennette, who, along with his partner, has a child who was carried by a surrogate mother.

Now we're hearing that his ABC sitcom, "Crumbs," which stars Fred Savage as a closeted gay screenwriter whose mother's nervous breakdown and parents' breakup lead to his return home to help with the family restaurant, was based on Pennette's family.

"This was the year I turned to myself to find what to write about," he says. "I was supposed to be developing a sitcom version of 'The Parent Trap' for ABC, believe it or not," when someone suggested that his family was "screwed up" enough for a sitcom.

And how do they feel about it?

"They are fair game, and I told them all that....This is our therapy," says Pennette.

"This is the show I've wanted to write for 15 years," he says. "I'm dealing with my brother's death, I'm dealing with my parents' breakup, I felt I owed them to do something different with it."

Somewhere amid all this heavy discussion, William Devane, who'll be playing Savage's father -- Jane Curtin's the mom -- kicked off his Birkenstocks.