Yesterdays trade round-up from our favorite source.
*****
- Blair Underwood
will play the U.S. President on NBC's drama pilot "The Event."
"The Event" is a thriller chronicled from multiple points of view
that centers on Sean (Jason Ritter), a regular man fighting his way through the
mysterious circumstances of a conspiracy to assassinate the U.S. president
(Underwood). The recently-elected President, originally envisioned as "a
poised Hispanic JFK," is described as smart, honest, confident and doing a
good job at hiding his relative inexperience. He is a family man and a man of
faith who truly wants to do good. "The Event" was first conceived by
writer Nick Wauters a few years ago, before Barack Obama's 2008 election as the
U.S.' first black president. Underwood, repped by ICM and Thruline, most
recently co-starred on ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money" and has recurred on
CBS' "The New Adventures of Old Christine."
- "Ugly Betty" alumna Ana Ortiz is staying on ABC with a lead role on
the network's drama pilot "True Blue." "Blue" centers on a
group of San Francisco homicide detectives reunited to solve the murder of one of
their own. Ortiz, repped by Gersh, manager Geordie Frey and attorney Brad
Small, plays a civilian secretary at the precinct.
- Alicia Witt has been tapped as the female lead on ABC drama pilot "Edgar
Floats," with Derek Webster also cast. "Edgar" centers on a a police
psychologist-turned-bounty hunter. Witt, repped by Gersh and Brillstein, will
play the bounty hunter's ex-wife and daughter of a bail bondsman. Webster
("Mental"), repped by Progressive Artists and Main Title, will play a
fellow psychologist who serves as Edgar's therapist.
- Will Yun Lee has landed a lead in ABC's Richard Hatem drama pilot and a guest
spot on CBS' "Hawaii Five-O." The Richard Hatem project centers on a
female detective (Katee Sackhoff) who teams with a disgraced ex-cop to solve
crimes. APA-repped Lee will play the ex-cop's close friend, a Chinese
restaurant owner. On "Hawaii," he'll play the island's crime lord.
Also cast in the Hatem drama is "Judging Amy" alum Richard T. Jones.
- Nicole Steinwedell and Brooke Nevin have been added to Fox drama pilot
"Breakout Kings." "Kings" centers on a team of U.S.
marshals paired with a group of convicts to apprehend recently escaped prisoners.
Steinwedell ("The Unit"), repped by ICM and Caliber, will play a
top-notch grifter who is a member of the team, as is Nevin's character. Nevin
("Worst Week") is repped by TalentWorks and Kritzer Levine Wilkins
Griffin.
- Oswaldo Castillo has been cast in NBC's untitled Adam Carolla comedy pilot.
The Carolla project stars the comedian as a divorced contractor rebuilding his
life. Castillo, a frequent collaborator of Carolla, will play his roommate and
co-worker. Castillo is with Matt Sherman Management.
- Carmen Ejogo has taken a role in CBS drama pilot "Chaos." On "Chaos,"
about a group of rogue CIA operatives, Ejogo will play a seasoned CIA analyst.
- Ryan Devlin has landed the young lead opposite William Shatner in CBS' comedy
pilot "Shit My Dad Says." "Shit," based on the popular Twitter
account, centers on the relationship between a guy (Devlin) and his opinionated
dad (Shatner). Twitter star Justin Halpern, on whom the character is based,
co-wrote the script with Peter Schumacher, with "Will & Grace"
creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick executive producing. Veteran sitcom
helmer James Burrows is directing the pilot, which co-stars Nicole Sullivan as
the Devlin's sister-in-law. Devlin, who is recurring on ABC's "Cougar
Town," is repped by Gersh and Grant Management.
- Debra Messing is making a return to half-hour comedy with a starring role in
ABC's pilot "Wright vs. Wrong." The Emmy-winning "Will & Grace"
alumna also will serve as an executive producer and take up ownership on the
single-camera project, from Sony TV and Tantamount. Penned by actress-writer
Stephnie Weir ("MadTV"), "Wrong" centers on Evelyn Wright
(Messing), a driven conservative pundit who tries to maintain her public
persona despite facing her own vulnerabilities. Messing will executive producer
alongside Tantamount's Mitch Hurwitz, Eric Tannenbaum and Kim Tannenbaum. Weir
also will exec produce, with Messing's manager Molly Madden also set to receive
a producing credit. Andy Fickman is directing. Last year, Messing was attached
to a comedy project by writers Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott that sparked a
bidding war before landing at NBC. After her eight-year run on NBC's "Grace,"
which earned her an Emmy, Messing, repped by Gersh, 3 Arts and attorney Rick
Genow, toplined USA Network's miniseries "The Starter Wife" as well
as the series it spawned.
- The future of Dana Delany's character on "Desperate Housewives" has
come under question as the actress has been approached to star in another ABC
project, pilot "Body of Evidence." There is no deal yet for Delany to
join "Body," which would be formally in second position to
"Housewives." "Body" is a procedural that centers on a
brilliant and tenacious medical examiner whose background as a neurosurgeon gives
her a unique and refreshing crime-solving perspective at the ME's office -- one
that often puts her at odds with just about everyone who crosses her path.
Questions about a possible Delany exit from "Housewives" first
swirled at the end of last season when Delany's Katherine was part of a
cliffhanger about whom would Mike (James Denton) marry -- her or Susan (Teri
Hatcher). With Mike going with Susan, Katherine's story lines have become
increasingly bizarre: So far this
season she has been a stalker, a psycho and a lesbian. Delany, an Emmy winner
for "China Beach," is doing an arc on another ABC series in the
spring, the dramedy "Castle." Originally approached for the role of
Bree that went to Marcia Cross, Delany joined "Housewives" at the
beginning of Season 4.
- "Friday Night Lights" alum Scott Porter has been tapped as the lead
in CW's drama pilot presentation "Nomads." The project, from writer Ken
Sanzel and producers Ridley Scott and Tony Scott, follows a group of nearly
broke young backpackers abroad who agree to earn money by working secret
missions for the CIA. Porter, who most recently co- starred in the feature
"Dear John" and recurred on Syfy's "Caprica," is repped by
Gersh and Brillstein.
- Jason George, who has been recurring on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" this
season as anesthesiologist Ben Warren, has joined the network's new medical
drama pilot from "Grey's" creator Shonda Rhimes, "Off the Map."
"Map," penned by Jenna Bans, revolves around three doctors who leave
the comfort of the U.S. to work at an isolated tropical clinic, Cruz del Sur.
George will play Dr. Otis Abbot, a brilliant ER doctor at the clinic who likes
women, cigarettes, and the occasional dirty joke and works closely with the
clinic's founder, Ben Hanley (Martin Henderson). While he is described as very
talented, Abbot's brilliance is not quite evident in his motto: "When in
doubt, give Ibuprofen." George, whose character on "Grey's" has
hit it off with Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson), is a favorite of Rhimes, who
also cast him in her pilot last year, "Inside the Box." He also has
been a fixture at ABC where he has co-starred on three series, "What About
Brian," "Eli Stone" and, most recently, "Eastwick."
George is repped by TalentWorks and Management 360.
- “The Pacific" standout Jon Seda has been tapped to co-star opposite Roselyn
Sanchez in ABC's dramedy pilot "Cutthroat." "Cutthroat" centers
on Nina Cabrera (Sanchez), an upscale Beverly Hills widow and soccer mom who
runs an international drug cartel. Seda, repped by ICM and A Management, will
play her cousin and second in command.
- Lindsay Price has been cast as a lead in ABC's comedy pilot "Who Gets
the Parents?" "Parents" revolves around a couple (Jane
Kaczmarek, Adam Arkin) who are divorcing after 30 years and take more active roles
in the lives of their three adult children. The WME-repped Price, who starred
on NBC's "Lipstick Jungle" and ABC's "Eastwick," will play
their slightly spoiled daughter-in-law.
- "Scrubs" star Eliza Coupe will co-star on ABC's comedy pilot
"Happy Endings." "Endings" revolves around a couple who,
after breaking up at the altar, must figure out how they and their four friends
can maintain their relationship. Coupe, repped by WME and Kirsten Ames, will
play one of the friends, the first to settle down and move to the suburbs. For
Coupe, the casting is in second position to "Scrubs."
- Jesse Bradford has joined NBC's untitled John Eisendrath drama pilot for NBC.
The Eisendrath project centers on a conservative Supreme Court justice who goes
into private practice. Bradford will play his Yale-educated clerk.
- Jason Behr and Merle Dandridge have been added to ABC's drama pilot "The
Matadors." "Matadors" is a "Romeo and Juliet"-style
drama about two feuding families' battle against each other as one populates
the state attorney's office and the other manages an influential private law
firm. Behr, repped by Gersh and Robert Stein, will play a member of one of the
families, a formidable prosecutor. SDB-repped Dandridge will play an
investigator for the other family.
- Missi Pyle and Johnny Sneed have landed leads on ABC's comedy pilot "How
to Be a Better American." "American" centers on a father (Jason Jones)
who embarks on a journey to be a better person and drags along his family
kicking and screaming. Pyle will play his stressed-out wife. Sneed will play
his lazy, unemployed father.
- Diedrich Bader and Jessica Gower have boarded NBC's comedy pilot "Outsourced."
"Outsourced" is an office comedy about a recently demoted manager
(Ben Rappaport) at a novelties company who is shipped to India to manage a
ragtag group of customer-service reps. Gower will pay a statuesque Australian
who runs a call center. Bader plays the chief of another call center who
refuses to assimilate to Indian culture and has American junk food shipped to
him.
- Michael Imperioli has dialed "187 Detroit," signing on for the lead
in ABC's drama pilot. The project offers a real but humorous look at Detroit's
top homicide division as seen through the cameras of a fictitious documentary
crew. "The Sopranos" alum Imperioli will play Fitch, a smart,
tough-minded veteran detective with a short fuse who has a near-perfect record
for clearing cases and putting murderers in cages. The pilot brings Imperioli
back to ABC, where he played another testy detective on the period drama series
"Life on Mars." Imperioli earned five Emmy nominations and scored a
win in 2004 for his signature role as tormented mobster Christopher Moltisanti
on HBO's "The Sopranos."
- Claire Forlani, Kathleen Rose Perkins and Stephen Mangan have been tapped to
co-star opposite Matt LeBlanc on Showtime/BBC's comedy series
"Episodes." The project, which has a seven-episode order, revolves
around a successful British husband-and-wife comedy team (Forlani, Mangan)
thrilled by the prospect of producing an U.S. version of their hit series. But
they soon are forced to replace the erudite British lead in the original with
the quintessential U.S. comedy star, Matt LeBlanc, who is playing a version of
himself. They begin to sink deeper into the quicksand that is the Hollywood TV business,
ruled by a legion of network and studio executives, including the smart head of
programming (Perkins). "Episodes," from "Friends"
co-creator David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik, is slated to start production in
early May for a premiere on Showtime and BBC 2. The series is enjoying strong
early buzz after a well-received promo featuring LeBlanc auditioning to play
himself on the show. "Episodes" reunites Perkins, repped by
Innovative and Jackson-Medavoy, and British actor Mangan, who co-starred on
ABC's 2008 untitled Victoria Pile comedy pilot, which also marked the stateside
debut of Pile, a British comedy writer-creator. In the U.S., Forlani most
recently appeared in a recurring role on CBS' "CSI: NY."
- It
took two years of courtship and eight offers this season alone, but U.S.
broadcast networks finally got British actor Jason Isaacs to do a pilot. He has
signed as the lead in the Fox drama pilot "Pleading Guilty," lifting
the contingency on the project from Peter Chernin's company and 20th TV. A
legal thriller based on Scott Turow's book "Pleading Guilty," about embezzlement,
bookmaking, offshore banking and the politics of a high-powered law firm,
"Guilty" centers on Mack (Isaacs), a cop-turned-attorney described as
"a big handsome Irish lunk" who is assigned to investigate the
disappearance of the firm's star litigator. "Brotherhood" star
Isaacs, among the highest-paid actors this pilot season, has been in demand
since the Showtime drama ended in 2008. He was pursued but unavailable last
pilot season because of commitments to the "Harry Potter" movies, in
which he plays Lucius Malfoy. Isaacs, who co-stars opposite Matt Damon in
"Green Zone," is repped by Gersh, the Collective and attorney Karl
Austen.
Selleck will play his son Michael, a handsome widower who is the current NYPD chief of police. Donnie Wahlberg will play his son, a detective who returned to the force after a tumultuous stint as a captain in Iraq. The series is casting up quickly--Flex Alexander and Bridget Moynihan seem likely to get roles--and Michael Cuesta will direct a pilot that’ll shoot later this month for CBS/Paramount Television. Leonard Goldberg, Mitchell Burgess & Robin Green are the exec producers.
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