Development News - March 20, 2014
ABC's Saint Francis; Amazon's Cosmopolitan; CBS' Good Session, How I Met Your Dad & Untitled Kevin Williamson; The CW's Identity & The Messengers; FX's Man Seeking Woman; and NBC's One Big Happy & State of Affairs.
NBC's STATE OF AFFAIRS
- Leslie Odom Jr. (Smash, Law & Order: SVU) has been cast on the drama pilot starring Katherine Heigl. He will play Mitchell Manning, Chief of Staff to the President of the United States.
NBC's ONE BIG HAPPY
- Comedian Rebecca Corry has joined the cast of the comedy pilot starring Nick Zano and Elisha Cuthbert. She will play Leisha, Lizzy's (Cuthbert) older sister, married with an "oops" baby that doesn't stop her from being a bit of a wild child herself.
ABC's SAINT FRANCIS
- Emmy winner Sharon Gless (Burn Notice) is set as a series regular on the comedy pilot starring Michael Imperioli and Spencer Grammer. She will play Janice Quinlan, Francis' (Imperioli) mother, an Irish Catholic "widow/martyr" who has taken up permanent residence in Francis' basement. When she learns that Heather (Grammer) is pregnant, she rushes off to her parish priest, who is happy to confirm the fact that Janice's only daughter is going straight to hell.
FX's MAN SEEKING WOMAN
- Eric André (2 Broke Girls), Britt Lower (Unforgettable) and Maya Erskine (Betas) have been cast on the comedy pilot starring Jay Baruchel. André will play Mike, Josh's (Baruchel) cocky best friend. Lower will play Liz, Josh's intimidating sister. Erskine will play Maggie, the ex-girlfriend who broke Josh's heart.
CBS' GOOD SESSION
- Tracey Ullman (The Tracey Ullman Show) has landed a role on the comedy pilot starring James Roday. She will play Ellen, the astute, straightforward therapist that Joel (Roday) and Lindsay see who uses her own brand of insight and humor to inspire the couples she helps to tell the truth.
THE CW's IDENTITY
- Emmy winner Patricia Wettig (thirtysomething, Brothers & Sisters) has joined the cast of the drama pilot starring Ahna O'Reilly. She will play Liana Grant, the matriarch of one of the country's wealthiest and most powerful families, which includes her son Davis (Matt Barr).
THE CW's THE MESSENGERS
- Mixology star Craig Frank has signed on for a recurring role on the drama pilot from writer Eoghan O'Donnell. He will play Alan, the handsome, likable techie who works with Vera (Shantel VanSanten), with whom he shares a romantic past, at the NASA Space Observatory in New Mexico.
CBS' HOW I MET YOUR DAD
- Rob Greenberg has stepped in to replace Pamela Fryman as director of the comedy pilot. Fryman has to pull out of the position due to personal issues. Greenberg previously directed 7 episodes of parent series How I Met Your Mother - the second most following Fryman who helmed 172 of its episodes.
AMAZON's COSMOPOLITAN
- Shaun Evans (Endeavour) has landed the male lead role on the comedy pilot from writer-director Whit Stillman. He will play Hal, a divorced, good-looking but somber young man who's struggling with his most recent heartache in the company of his two best friends.
CBS' UNTITLED KEVIN WILLIAMSON PROJECT
- Victor Rasuk (How to Make It in America) has been cast on the drama pilot starring Dylan McDermott and Maggie Q. He will play Ben, an ambitious detective with the Threat Assessment Unit who's loyal but not entirely trustworthy.
