Development News - March 2, 2018
ABC's For Love, Grand Hotel, Salvage, Single Parents, Staties & Untitled Justin Noble; CBS' Magnum P.I., Murder & Welcome to the Neighborhood; The CW's In the Dark & Playing Dead; and NBC's So Close, Suspicion & Untitled Bad Boys Spinoff.
THE CW's IN THE DARK
- Perry Mattfeld, Brooke Markham and Keston John have been cast on the drama pilot written by Corinne Kingsbury. Mattfeld recurred in the eighth season of Showtime's Shameless. Markham appeared in YouTube Red's Foursome. John has recurred on Amazon's Bosch.
- Mattfeld will play Murphy, a flawed and irreverent young woman who just happens to be blind and is the only "witness" to the murder of her drug-dealing friend, Tyson. When the police dismiss her story, she sets out with her dog, Pretzel, to find the killer while also managing her colorful dating life and the job she hates at Breaking Blind - the guide dog school owned by her overprotective parents.
- Markham will play Jess, Murphy's best friend and roommate. She is a well-meaning, nurturing veterinarian who is somewhat overly protective of Murphy, her to her occasional irritation.
- John will play Darnell, Tyson's cousin and a drug dealer. He initially dismisses Murphy's claims that she found Tyson dead in an alley before his body mysteriously disappeared. He thinks Murphy is a "sloppy, blind white girl" who is imagining things - but as she pursues her investigation, he begins to realize that Tyson may really be dead. Mistrustful of authority, he refuses to go to the cops, but he joins Murphy in her quest for justice - and his admiration and attraction for her grows at every step of their enquiry.
CBS' WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD
- Cedric the Entertainer will co-star on the comedy pilot written by Jim Reynolds. He and Eric Rhone will also executive produce the pilot through their A Bird and A Bear Entertainment company. He starred for five seasons in TV Land's The Soul Man and also co-stars in TBS' upcoming comedy The Last O.G. (though the CBS pilot has him in first position).
- He will play Calvin. A strong and proud man, he lives next door to new neighbors, the Johnson family, who he regards with disdain and as a pack of interlopers. A natural contrarian, acerbic, even downright misanthropic, he thinks these people will upset the delicate balance that has existed in his neighborhood "forever" - actually more like 30 years.
NBC's SUSPICION
- Derek Luke has booked the lead role on the drama pilot written by Jessica Goldberg. Also cast today is Paula Newsome. Luke stars in Netflix's 13 Reasons Why and has recurred on FX's The Americans and FOX's Empire. Newsome has had recurring roles on CBS' NCIS, The CW's No Tomorrow and HBO's upcoming comedy Barry.
- Luke will play Danny Goodman, a reluctant hero who doesn't know it yet. He is a widower focused on providing a normal life for his daughter and building a new life with his fiancé, Lucy. Things take a turn when he takes a loan from a wealthy neighbor and is coerced into becoming an FBI informant on the man.
- Newsome will play Agent Peters, an FBI agent with a calm demeanor who still makes Danny uneasy despite her efforts to be honest and straightforward.
ABC's FOR LOVE
- Ethan Peck and Jon Ecker will play the male leads on the drama pilot written by Michael Cooney. Peck starred in the ABC Family drama 10 Things I Hate About You. Ecker starred in the second season of USA's Queen of the South.
- Peck will play Gabriel Dumaine, Hope's current boyfriend. Charming, handsome and worldly, he is a member of the powerful Dumaine family, and also a candidate in the upcoming mayoral race. Respectful of Hope's loss, he's very much in love with her and hoping to start a life with her, even though he realizes that might expose her to the dangerous secret the Dumaine family hides.
- Ecker will play Charlie Lapree, Hope's former fiancé. He is a hardworking and delightful journalist fully in love with Hope. After taking a call while remodeling their new apartment, he is found dead after a car accident. Five years later, he appears again.
ABC's SINGLE PARENTS
- Taran Killam, Leighton Meester and Brad Garrett will star in the comedy pilot created by J.J. Philbin and Liz Meriwether. Killam starred for six seasons in NBC's Saturday Night Live. Meester starred for six seasons in The CW's Gossip Girl. Garrett won three Emmy Awards for his supporting role on CBS' Everybody Loves Raymond.
- Killam will play Will Cooper, a single father whose daughter is his whole world - but, because of his devotion to her, he's forgotten how to be a man.
- Meester will play Angie, a single mother to an overly attached son whom she is doing everything she can to protect for as long as possible. She's scrappy, strong and has had to hustle as a single mom for years to make ends meet.
- Garrett will play Douglas, a rich and retired country club member who has an old-school mentality on parenting - and gender roles - who becomes a single father in his 50s and is forced to raise his twin girls solo.
CBS' MAGNUM P.I.
- Perdita Weeks has joined the cast of the drama pilot reboot starring Jay Hernandez. She had a recurring role on the final season of Showtime's Penny Dreadful.
- She will play Juliet Higgins, the property manager for the large Hawaiian estate of writer Robin Masters, for whom Magnum (Hernandez) ostensibly works security and lives in his guest house. She is commanding, confident and tough who uses sarcasm to deflect emotion and is hard to get to know.
ABC's UNTITLED JUSTIN NOBLE PROJECT
- Angela Kinsey has landed a series regular role on the comedy pilot starring Kat Dennings. She starred for nine seasons in NBC's The Office and two seasons in Netflix's Haters Back Off.
- She will play Dana, a kind hotel employee who has the worst luck of all time. If something bad can happen, it has probably already happened to Dana. Nevertheless, she tries to keep her head up.
ABC's SALVAGE
- Will Patton is set as a series regular on the drama pilot starring Toby Kebbell and Jim Belushi. He starred for five seasons in TNT's Falling Skies and in the FOX limited series Shots Fired.
- He will play Guy, Jimmy's (Kebbell) father. A man of dubious ethical character who's always running some scheme or con. He was a foreman of Duke's (Belushi) citrus plant until Duke fired him years ago, and ever since then he's despised Duke Daniels.
NBC's SO CLOSE
- Dan Bucatinsky has been cast on the comedy pilot starring Sasheer Zamata and Sean Kleier. He won an Emmy Award for his recurring role on ABC's Scandal. He also starred in FOX's 24: Legacay.
- He will play Christopher, another lawyer in the firm and Riley's (Zamata) closest friend. He adores Riley, looks out for her and feels the need to protect her.
NBC's UNTITLED BAD BOYS SPINOFF
- In a huge casting get for a broadcast network, Jessica Alba has signed on as the co-lead opposite Gabrielle Union on the drama pilot spinoff of the Bad Boys film franchise. She has also joined the pilot as an executive producer. This will mark Alba's first series regular credit since her breakout role in FOX's Dark Angel in 2000. Her film credits include Sin City and Fantastic Four.
- She will play Nancy McKenna, who joined the Army out of high school and spent most of the 2000s in Iraq and Afghanistan. Women weren't allowed in combat so she joined the military police to get closer to the action and is now a detective raising two preteen step-kids with her husband.
CBS' MURDER
- Jennifer Mudge will co-star on the drama pilot starring Michael Chiklis and Teyonah Parris. She has had recurring roles on Starz's Boss and NBC's Shades of Blue.
- She will play Beth Garrity, an ER nurse who's seen just as much death and pain as her husband, Detective Mason Garrity (Chiklis). The marriage is the solid rock on which both of their lives are built. Her professional training and her grounded Brooklyn roots give her a clear-eyed, common-sense perspective on life that she's passing down to her four daughters.
ABC's STATIES
- Ava Capri has booked a series regular role on the drama pilot starring Annie Ilonzeh and Andy Karl. She will appear in the upcoming film Write When You Get Work.
- She will play Felicity, Sam's (Karl) teenage daughter who works at the front desk of the Oregon State Police station.
ABC's GRAND HOTEL
- Demián Bichir will star in the drama pilot written by Brian Tanen. He was nominated for an Academy Award for the 2011 film A Better Life. He starred in three seasons of Showtime's Weeds and two seasons of FX's The Bridge.
- He will play Gonzalo Cardenas, the handsome and charismatic owner of the Grand Riviera Hotel. His super-power is his charm. He is one of those people who can talk to anyone and make them feel like fast friends. He has built himself up from nothing, and will anything to keep what he has.
THE CW's PLAYING DEAD
- Clara Lago will play the female lead on the drama pilot starring Tyler Ritter. Also cast on the pilot today is Luke Youngblood. This will mark the first series regular role in the United States for Lago who has several series credits in Spain. Youngblood starred for two seasons in ABC's Galavant.
- Lago will play Isabel, a fiery, self-serving con artist with a wicked sense of humor who also happens to be on the run from the mafia. Used to living dangerously, trained in martial arts, and with a knack for improvisation, she has come up with a plan to save her own skin and make Joe (Ritter) a whole lot of money. But first, Joe has to agree to help her fake her own death.
- Youngblood will play Oliver Barnes, Joe's loyal, longtime assistant at the funeral parlor as well as his best friend. He clearly blames Isabel for causing Joe so much pain, and has no problem making that clear to both of them.
