ABC's Untitled Richard LaGravenese; CBS' Save the Date, Scorpion & Taxi-22; The CW's Jane the Virgin; FOX's Dead Boss & Empire; FX's How and Why & Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll; NBC's Feed Me & State of Affairs; and TBS' Untitled Kohan/Mutchnick.
NBC's STATE OF AFFAIRS
- Sheila Vand (Argo) has booked a regular role on the drama pilot starring Katherine Heigl. She will play Grace Hough, a tough CIA analyst on the President's daily briefing team, who keeps her private life to herself.
- Tommy Savas (Hollywood Heights) has also joined the pilot today. He will play Miles, a CIA analyst and the youngest member of the President's daily briefing team. Miles is gay and also sleeping with his boss.
CBS' SAVE THE DATE
- Mad Men star Jay R. Ferguson has been cast on the comedy pilot starring Maggie Lawson. He will play Jerry, the owner of a successful pizza restaurant and a very eligible bachelor - who is determined to stay that way and whose ex-roommate (Tom Bennett) is now living with his fiancée, Hilary (Michelle Trachtenberg).
FX's SEX&DRUGS&ROCK&ROLL
- Elaine Hendrix has landed a role on the comedy pilot starring Denis Leary. She will play Ava, one of Johnny's (Leary) three live-in groupies - and 25 years later, she's still his biggest fan. Having never had a child because her life kinda slipped away from her while she was busy chasing rock stars through dressing rooms, Ava realizes that her life has been a mess and that she has nothing to show for all her many, many parties.
FOX's DEAD BOSS
- Saturday Night Live alum Rachel Dratch has joined the cast of the comedy pilot starring Jane Krakowski. She will play Christine, Helen's (Krakowski) cellmate, a sunny but emotionally needy arsonist who will help Helen out of anything, except prison.
- Arrested Development star David Cross has also joined the pilot today in a guest starring role. He will play Derek Bridges, the narcissistic, credit-stealing, misogynistic "dead boss."
CBS' SCORPION
- Ari Stidham (Anyplace) has been cast on the drama pilot starring Elyes Gabel and Katharine McPhee. He will play Sylvester, a statistics guru with off-the-chart OCD who's part of the genius team.
CBS' TAXI-22
- The single camera comedy pilot is being put on hold because of problems casting the lead character. However, CBS plans to keep it in contention for series order, just rolling production on the pilot to the next development cycle. An adaptation of the hit French Canadian comedy created by and starring Patrick Huard, Taxi-22 is about a misanthropic and politically incorrect NYC cab driver. The pilot was written by Tad Quill, who executive produces with Huard, Dennis Erdman, Clark Peterson, Francois Flamand, Nancy Sanders and Mark Armstrong. CBS Television Studios is producing.
ABC's UNTITLED RICHARD LAGRAVENESE PROJECT
- Britne Oldford (Ravenswood) is set as a regular on the drama pilot starring Rufus Sewell and Melissa George. She will play Cecelia, the No. 1 fashion model/cover girl in the world who is publicly, and in truth, a virgin, yet in every photo shoot is portrayed as sexual and unattainable. She's engaged to marry Anderson Cole (Oded Fehr), who's three decades older.
THE CW's JANE THE VIRGIN
- Frequent Switched at Birth guest Ivonne Coll has been cast on the drama pilot starring Gina Rodriguez. She will play Alba, Jane's (Rodriguez) 60-ish doting grandmother who teaches Jane at an early age the importance of staying pure until marriage. We later learn that Alba has been harboring a lifelong secret.
TBS' UNTITLED DAVID KOHAN & MAX MUTCHNICK PROJECT
- Ryan Pinkston, Matt Cook and Mike Castle have landed lead roles on the multi-camera comedy pilot. Pinkston will play Ben, the greedy owner of Buzzy's, who is always trying to squeeze an extra penny out of his business and appears to be unaware that all of his employees know and despise his shopworn manipulative ploys. Cook will play Mo, a stylist at the shop who is Ben's best friend and his direct opposite. Castle will play A.J., another stylist and a true hometown boy who was his town's top hockey player before being humbled by a devastating knee injury.
FOX's EMPIRE
- Grammy winner Macy Gray is joining the drama pilot starring Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson in a recurring role. She will play Tasha, a woman having an affair with the much-younger Hakeem Lyon (Bryshere Y. Gray), over whom she exercises considerable influence and control.
FX's HOW AND WHY
- Oscar-nominees Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine) and Catherine Keener (Being John Malkovich) have been cast on the comedy pilot starring John Hawkes and Michael Cera. Hawkins will pay Yvonne Hesselman, Goodman's (Hawkes) wife and the mother of their triplets. The demise of his show has put a strain on their marriage, and the the couple is pretending that everything is fine. Keener will play Alice, whose character details are being kept under wraps.
NBC's FEED ME
- Michael Trim (Orange is the New Black, Weeds) has signed on to direct the pilot of the single camera project written by Sally Robinson and starring Mary-Louise Parker.
