Development News - March 12, 2018
ABC's The Fix, Four Rivers, Man of the House & Steps; CBS' Fam; The CW's Charmed, In the Dark, Roswell & Skinny Dip; FOX's Mixtape & Untitled David Elliot; and NBC's Untitled David Schulner.
ABC's THE FIX
- Robin Tunney and Adam Rayner will star in the drama pilot written by Elizabeth Craft, Sarah Fain and Marcia Clark. Also cast on the pilot today is Alex Saxon. Tunney starred for seven seasons in CBS' The Mentalist. Rayner starred for three seasons in FX's Tyrant.Saxon starred for two seasons in MTV's Finding Carter.
- Tunney will play Maya Travis. When the jury found Academy Award winning actor Sevvy Johnson innocent of a double murder, the case's leading prosecutor Maya was crushed by the shocking verdict. She left the profession - and Los Angeles - retreating to a quieter life on a horse ranch with her partner. Eight years later, when news breaks that Sevvy Johnson's girlfriend has been brutally murdered, Maya makes the decision to return to LA to face her past, seek justice and win redemption.
- Rayner will play Andre, who was Maya's second chair during the Sevvy Johnson trial. There is an undeniable charge between Andre and Maya. When Maya left town after the trial, Andre remained on the job and got married. When Sevvy's girlfriend is found murdered, he pays Maya a visit and asks her to return.
- Saxon will play Gabriel Johnson.
FOX's UNTITLED DAVID ELLIOT PROJECT
- Rachelle Lefevre and Vincent Kartheiser will play the lead roles on the drama pilot written by David Elliot. Lefevre starred for three seasons in CBS' Under the Dome and is a series regular on the second season of Lifetime's Mary Kills People (which debuts tonight). Kartheiser starred for seven seasons in AMC's Mad Men.
- Lefevre will play Madeline Scott, a fierce and fearless lawyer with a hunger for justice. Her motivation comes from her infamous past. As a young adult, she was found guilty and later exonerated in a high-profile case in which she became a tabloid sensation, household name and national celebrity. While a hero and a victim to some, her bold and bullish tactics garner her some enemies - one of whom will do anything to see her go down for a crime we know she did not commit.
- Kartheiser will play Bodie Quick, the intrepid, scrappy and endearing investigator for the wrongful conviction firm.
ABC's STEPS
- Kyle Bornheimer has joined the cast of the comedy pilot starring Ginnifer Goodwin. He has recently had recurring roles on Hulu's Casual, FOX's Brooklyn Nine-Nine and USA's Playing House.
- He will play Paul, a conflict-averse romantic with a quick wit who is newly married to Bea (Goodwin). He is eager to be free from his bully of an ex-wife and to start parenting and living his own way.
ABC's FOUR RIVERS
- Shakira Barrera will co-star on the comedy pilot starring Annaleigh Ashford and John Larroquette. She previously recurred on MTV's Faking It.
- She will play Lucy, the surprise guest at the ranch and the half sibling to Rebecca (Ashford), Leanne (Stephanie Styles) and Roy.
CBS' FAM
- Nina Dobrev has landed the female lead on the comedy pilot written by Corinne Kingsbury. The pilot marks her first series regular role since wrapping her six season run on The CW's The Vampire Diaries.
- She will play Clem, a grounded, deeply funny, quick-witted and outspoken woman. She was a bit of a hot mess in her younger years, but since then, she has worked hard to create the best version of herself and her life is on track. She is a real charmer who is ecstatic when Jay, the love of her life, proposes. In the "best version of herself," she claims that her own father is long dead, but the fact is that her dad, Freddy Banks, whom she hasn't seen in 10 years, is such an embarrassment that she has lied about his death. And when her half-sister Shannon (Odessa Adlon) shows up unexpectedly, Clem's lie is about to become painfully obvious to everyone who trusted and believed her. And that lie just might end her relationship with Jay for good.
THE CW's SKINNY DIP
- Sarah Wright Olsen has booked the lead role on the drama pilot starring Ben Aldridge and Matt Barr. She starred opposite Tom Cruise in the 2017 film American Made. She also starred in the one-season NBC comedy Marry Me.
- She will play Joey, who lives off of a substantial trust fund from her deceased parents and a huge life insurance policy from her deceased former fiancé. She has money but not much else. She's smart, funny and married to a charming yet shallow husband, Chaz (Aldridge). While on what she thinks is a romantic anniversary cruise, Chaz throws her overboard. She miraculously survives the ordeal and is saved by Mick (Barr), a former detective now living alone on a desert island. She doesn't want Chaz to know she's alive until she finds out the motive behind his nefarious deed - and she can plot her revenge.
THE CW's IN THE DARK
- Austin Nichols is set as a series regular on the drama pilot starring Perry Mattfeld. He starred for two seasons in AMC's The Walking Dead and three seasons in The CW's One Tree Hill.
- He will play Dean, a salt-of-the-earth cop. He's called in to investigate when Murphy (Mattfeld) claims she has discovered Tyson's dead body in an alley. He's put on the case because he has a blind daughter, and it's thought that he may be sensitive to Murphy's situation. He also initially thinks Murphy's claim was the result of a drunken delusion. But as Murphy cleans up her act and presses the police to investigate, Dean begins to lend credence to her claims.
THE CW's CHARMED
- Charlie Gillespie and Ellen Tamaki have been cast on the drama pilot reboot starring Madeleine Mantock, Melonie Diaz and Sarah Jeffery. Gillespie will be seen in the upcoming film Speed Kills and the TNT miniseries One Day She'll Darken. This will mark Tamaki's first major television credit.
- Gillespie will play Brian, Madison's (Jeffery) high school boyfriend who still carries a torch for her.
- Tamaki will play Nico, a detective on the Hilltowne police force whose romantic relationship with one of the sisters complicates her investigation.
NBC's UNTITLED DAVID SCHULNER PROJECT
- Jocko Sims has snagged a series regular role on the drama pilot starring Ryan Eggold and Janet Montgomery. He starred for four seasons in TNT's The Last Ship and has had recurring roles on Showtime's Masters of Sex and FOX's The Resident.
- He will play Dr. Floyd Pearson, an intelligent, virtuous and honest to a fault attending cardiac surgeon. A graduate of Yale who came from humble beginnings, he loves his work but still carries a chip on his shoulder for having to work twice as hard to get there.
THE CW's ROSWELL
- Trevor St. John has joined the cast of the drama pilot reboot starring Jeanine Mason and Nathan Parsons. He starred in the short-lived CW drama Containment.
- He will play Master Sergeant Jesse Manes. Stubborn and set in his ways, he inherited a military legacy of the alien cover up, but now plans to eliminate them entirely.
FOX's MIXTAPE
- Megan Ferguson has landed a series regular role on the drama pilot starring Madeleine Stowe and Callie Hernandez. She starred in FX's The Comedians and has recurring roles on Netflix's Grace and Frankie and Hulu's Casual.
- She will play Gigi, Nellie's (Hernandez) best friend.
ABC's MAN OF THE HOUSE
- Leslie Bibb will play the co-lead opposite Alyson Hannigan on the comedy pilot written by Vijal Patel and Frank Pines. Her casting returns her to ABC after toplining the dramedy GCB and recurring on American Housewife.
- She will play Charli, a beautiful, narcissistic, possibly sociopathic man-eater who wakes up every morning looking for a fight because it's the only thing that makes her feel alive. Despite her toughness and bravado, she's surprisingly vulnerable underneath. She actually didn't get the courage to leave her cheating husband until she saw her sister, Jessie (Hannigan) going through her own divorce. Even though Charli has dominated her sister their entire life, Jessie is actually her rock.
