Friday, February 28, 2020

Development News - Sophia Bush to Topline 'Good Sam'; Courteney Cox to Star in 'Shining Vale'; Plus 5 More Updates!

Development News - February 28, 2020

CBS' The Equalizer, Ghosts & Good Sam; The CW's Maverick; NBC's Echo & Jefferies; and Starz's Shining Vale.





THE CW's MAVERICK
  • Reina Hardesty, Nandy Martin and Zainne Saleh have been cast as series regulars on the drama pilot written by Merigan Mulhern. Hardesty has recurred on The CW's The Flash and will appear in the upcoming final season of IFC's Brockmire. Martin has recurred on Freeform's The Fosters. Saleh has recurred on NBC's The Night Shift.
  • Hardesty will play Kit, the daughter of the President of the United States. She was raised in a family of wealth and power. Intelligent and an inquisitive dreamer, she finds her relationship and alliance with her family's beliefs starting to change after she moves out to begin her first year in college.
  • Martin will play Vanessa, Kit's new roommate at Georgetown University. Smart and tough, she has no fear of speaking her mind. She constantly fights for the underdogs because she is one herself, even as she hides some of her own insecurities.
  • Saleh will play Cara, a sophomore at Georgetown. She knows more of the cruelties of the world than she lets on. She's been marginalized and is ready to fight back against the government by using her fearless ability to hack any system.
CBS' GOOD SAM
  • Sophia Bush will play the lead role in the drama pilot written by Katie Wech. She previously starred for nine seasons in The WB/The CW's One Tree Hill and four seasons in NBC's Chicago P.D. She next appears in a recurring role on Hulu's upcoming comedy Love, Victor.
  • She will play Sam, who works in the same hospital as her domineering father, Griff, who is impossible to please and never acknowledged her talents. Second in command to him and always in his shadow, she rises to the occasion when he falls into a coma and she takes charge of the department as chief of surgery. She comes into her own professionally and personally. However, her world is upturned again after Griff awakens and wants to practice again, even if it means being supervised by his daughter.
STARZ's SHINING VALE
  • Courteney Cox will star in the horror comedy pilot written by Jeff Astrof and Sharon Horgan. She previously starred for ten seasons in NBC's Friends and six seasons in ABC/TBS' Cougar Town.
  • She will play Patricia "Pat" Phelps, a former "wild child" who rose to fame by writing a raunchy, drug-and-alcohol soaked women's empowerment novel (aka lady porn). Fast forward 17 years later, she is clean and sober but totally unfulfilled. She still hasn't written her second novel, she can't remember the last time she had sex with her husband, and her teenage kids are at that stage where they love their vile friends and want you dead. She was a faithful wife until her one slip-up: a torrid 15-night-stand with a hot, young artist/handyman/musician neighbor. In a last-ditch effort to save her marriage, she and her family move from the "crazy" of the city to a large, old house in the suburbs where evil and humor collide.
NBC's JEFFERIES
  • Anthony LaPaglia has joined the cast of the comedy pilot written by and starring Jim Jefferies. He won an Emmy Award in 2002 for his recurring role on NBC's Frasier. He also starred for seven seasons in CBS' Without a Trace.
  • He will play Trevor, Jim's (Jefferies) father, a recent widower who has moved into Jim's guest house.
CBS' GHOSTS
  • Brandon Scott Jones will co-star on the comedy pilot written by Joe Port and Joe Wiseman. He has previously recurred on Comedy Central's The Other Two and NBC's The Good Place.
  • He will play Isaac, a well-meaning but pompous and long-winded Militiaman and statesman who died in the late 1700s of dysentery. 
NBC's ECHO
  • Janina Gavankar is set as the female lead in the drama pilot written by JJ Bailey. She previously starred for two seasons in HBO's True Blood, two seasons in NBC's The Mysteries of Laura and one season in FOX's Sleepy Hollow. She recently recurred in the first season of AppleTV+'s The Morning Show.
  • She will play Mel Goodwin, a police officer who's driven and eager to prove herself.
CBS' THE EQUALIZER
  • Lorraine Toussaint has landed a series regular role on the drama pilot starring Queen Latifah. She has previously starred for one season in Netflix's Orange Is the New Black, two seasons in FOX's Rosewood, one season in AMC's Into the Badlands and one season in NBC's The Village. She currently stars in the voice cast of Netflix's She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and next appears in a recurring role on Showtime's upcoming limited series Your Honor.
  • She will play Frieda "Aunty Fry" Lascombe, Robyn's (Queen Latifah) aunt and her rock who's been living with Robyn and her daughter, Delilah, since Robyn's divorce. She has an undeniable wisdom and is a truth-teller who tends to be a wary optimist.