Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Development News - Julie Klausner to Co-Star on 'So Close'; Sinbad Books Role on 'Rel'; Plus 9 More Updates!

Development News - March 20, 2018

ABC's Steps; CBS' Chiefs & Main Justice; E!'s Juicy Stories; FOX's Dan the Weatherman, Mixtape, Our People, Rel & Untitled David Elliot; and NBC's So Close & Untitled Aseem Batra.




NBC's SO CLOSE
  • Julie Klausner will co-star on the comedy pilot starring Sasheer Zamata and Sean Kleier. She was the creator and star of Hulu's Difficult People.
  • She will play Amy. A bit of a crazy with a manic edge to her, she works with Riley (Zamata) at the law firm and is one of her good friends.
FOX's REL
  • Sinbad has been cast on the comedy pilot written by and starring Lil Rel Howery. Furthermore, Jessica Moore has been tapped to replace Angel Laketa Moore as the female lead. This marks Sinbad's first series regular role since he starred in FOX's The Sinbad Show in the 1993-94 season. Moore has appeared on MTV's Wild 'n Out and HBO's All Def Comedy.
  • Sinbad will play the father of Rel (Howery) and Nat (Jordan L. Jones), who seems to care more about his reputation in the community than he does about the happiness of his sons.
  • Moore will play Tiffany, Rel's supportive, kind and driven best friend.
FOX's OUR PEOPLE
  • Bernard David Jones will play the male lead on the comedy pilot starring Beth Behrs. He starred in ABC's The Mayor - which is unlikely to return for a second season with the majority of the cast booking roles on new pilots this development season.
  • The pilot revolves around a man (Jones) from a bombastic African family who doesn't have a word in their native language for "privacy and his fiancée (Behrs) from a Midwestern family try to build a normal life together. Though nobody can agree what that "normal" means.
CBS' MAIN JUSTICE
  • Aubrey Dollar has landed a series regular role on the drama pilot starring Bokeem Woodbine, Timothy Hutton and Peter Gallagher. She starred in CBS' short-lived drama Battle Creek.
  • She will play Ellis, the Chief of Staff to the Attorney General (Woodbine). Recently divorced from her wife, with whom she has a young son, she is smart, shrewd and loyal, extremely organized and efficient, always honest. She was recommended to the job by President Whitbeck (Gallagher), who all but insisted Miles hire her.
NBC's UNTITLED ASEEM BATRA PROJECT
  • Aisling Bea has scored a series regular role on the comedy pilot starring Sarayu Blue and Paul Adelstein. She starred in the third season of the BBC/Netflix drama The Fall as well as the Hulu/BBC1 drama Hard Sun.
  • She will play Simone, Emet's (Blue) childhood friend. She is the encourager of all bad ideas and the female version of "The Most Interesting Man in the World."
FOX's MIXTAPE
  • Raúl Castillo has joined the cast of the drama pilot starring Madeleine Stowe and Jenna Dewan Tatum. He starred for two seasons (plus the follow-up movie) in HBO's Looking and was a series regular on the first season of Netflix's Seven Seconds.
  • He will play Sam, an aspiring songwriter, secret romantic and young widower who will do anything for his son.
CBS' CHIEFS
  • Demetrius Grosse is set as the male lead on the drama pilot starring Jorja Fox, Alana De La Garza and Aunjanue Ellis. He starred in NBC's The Brave - which is currently on-the-bubble after wrapping its run in January 2018. He previously had recurring roles on FX's Justified and Cinemax's Banshee.
  • He will play Deputy Clem Bryant, who works for the Los Angeles County Sheriff in the Special Enforcement Bureau, chasing down bail jumpers, serving high-risk warrants and doing manhunts. He's been dating Kendra (Ellis) and it's getting serious.
FOX's UNTITLED DAVID ELLIOT PROJECT
  • Nikki M. James has snagged a series regular role on the drama pilot starring Rachelle Lefevre. She won a Tony Award for her performance in The Book of Mormon. She starred in CBS' short-lived drama BrainDead and had a recurring role on the final season of The Good Wife.
  • She will play Violet, the law firm's gregarious and charismatic communications director.
FOX's DAN THE WEATHERMAN
  • Ashley Williams, James Earl and Daniel Stern will co-star on the comedy pilot starring Thomas Lennon. Williams starred for two seasons in TV Land's The Jim Gaffigan Show. Earl was a series regular on the second season of FOX's Scream Queens. Stern starred in the Home Alone film franchise and the first season of WGN America's Manhattan.
  • Williams will play Deborah, Dan's (Lennon) wife, a successful real estate agent who's always been the other half of this local power couple.
  • Earl will play Henry, executive producer at the TV station, Dan's boss and good friend.
  • Stern will play Don, a tough Vietnam vet who now flies the traffic helicopter for the station.
ABC's STEPS
  • Julie Hagerty and Cameron Boyce have been cast on the comedy pilot starring Ginnifer Goodwin. Hagerty has recurred on NBC's Trial & Error, FX's Wilfred and ABC's Happy Endings. Boyce has starred in the Descendants and Grown Ups film franchises.
  • Hagerty will play June, Louie's mother who has recently gotten in touch with her Sapphic side.
  • Boyce will play Becker, a sincere and full of love young man with no filter which can make for some uncomfortable moments.
E! NEW PILOT ORDER
  • JUICY STORIES (Drama) - Written by and executive produced by Michael Patrick King and Amy B. Harris (Sex and the City). Produced by Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor. Producted by Universal Cable Productions, Warner Horizon Television and Michael Patrick King Productions. Logline: The tale of two women who made clothes, made mistakes, made babies and made one of the most iconic brands of the 1990s: Juicy Couture. These "Juicy Stories" - both aspirational and sensational - flash back to Los Angeles in the 1990s and are narrated on camera and in the present by the real Pam and Gela, still business partners and best friends.