Development News - February 20, 2019
ABC's Happy Accident; CBS' Courthouse; The CW's The Lost Boys; HBO's Avenue 5; NBC's Like Magic & Prism; Pop's Best Intentions & Ride or Die; and Showtime's How to Make Love to a Black Woman.
SHOWTIME NEW PILOT ORDER
- HOW TO MAKE LOVE TO A BLACK WOMAN (Comedic Anthology) - Written by Cathy Kisakye. Executive produced by Lena Waithe (The Chi, Boomerang) and Rishi Rajani. Logline: A collection of multi-part episodes which will include new characters in an authentic world, telling stories about connection and rejection that explore our most harrowing - and harrowingly comic - sexual secrets.
POP's RIDE OR DIE
- Marley Shelton, NeNe Leakes, Molly Sims, Jennifer Landon and Tawny Newsome will star in the comedy pilot written by Matt McConkey. Shelton starred in the short-lived dramas The Lottery on Lifetime and Rise on NBC. Leakes is a TV personality who has starred on Bravo's The Real Housewives of Atlanta for nine seasons. Sims starred for five seasons in NBC's Las Vegas. Landon is a three-time Daytime Emmy winner for CBS' As the World Turns. Newsome stars in the upcoming third season of IFC's Brockmire.
- Shelton will play Shauna, a former socialite turned spin instructor whose favorite student turns up dead. She makes it her mission to find the killer.
- Leakes will play Glo, a chef and lifestyle guru who's also a true-crime buff and is thrilled to share her expertise on the case.
- Sims will play Jamie, the resident mean girl and a frenemy from Shauna's past life.
- Landon will play Ali, an ambitious woman who is threatened by Shauna's growing popularity.
- Newsome will play Lindy, who runs the front desk at the spin studio and is Shauna's only true ally at work.
POP's BEST INTENTIONS
- David Fynn, Daniel Rashid, Lindsey Gort and Sarah Levy will play the lead roles on the comedy pilot written by Adam Herz. Fynn starred for three seasons in NBC's Undateable. Rashid starred in the short series Stargate Origins. Gort starred in the second season of The CW's The Carrie Diaries. Levy currently stars in Pop's Schitt's Creek, which is in the middle of its fifth season.
- Fynn will play Andy, a kind-hearted but painfully awkward single father who's a guidance counselor at the high school his son, Nate (Rashid) attends.
- Gort will play Katie, a teacher Andy is smitten with.
- Levy will play Becky, the school's bubbly, micromanaging vice principal.
ABC's HAPPY ACCIDENT
- Jessie Pinnick and Elliot Knight will co-star on the comedy pilot starring Matt Walsh and Vanessa Williams. Pinnick played the title role in the 2017 film Princess Cyd. Knight starred in CBS' one-season drama American Gothic and The CW's one-season drama Life Sentence.
- Pinnick will play Samantha "Sammy" Bennett, the baby of the family and a tomboy.
- Knight will play Kenan, Sherri's (Williams) son who has a need for control and order.
NBC's PRISM
- Ramon Rodriguez has been cast as the male lead on the drama pilot starring Malin Akerman. He previously starred in FOX's one-season drama Gang Related and in the first season of Netflix's Iron Fist. He recently recurred on Showtime's The Affair as well.
- He will play Eduardo Guaty, a hard-hitting prosecutor.
CBS' COURTHOUSE
- Jessica Camacho is set as a series regular on the drama pilot written by Greg Spottiswood. She starred for one season in NBC's Taken and one season in FOX's Sleepy Hollow. She has also had a recurring role on The CW's The Flash.
- She will play Emily Lopez-Berarro, a tough and determined public defender who is undaunted in her efforts to prove her clients' innocence.
NBC's LIKE MAGIC
- Rory O'Malley has joined the cast of the comedy pilot starring Jee Young Han. He received a Tony Award nomination in 2011 for his performance in The Book of Mormon. He also played King George for nine months on Broadway in Hamilton and in the show's first national tour. He currently stars in Lifetime's upcoming drama American Princess, which debuts in June.
- He will play Michael V., one half of a magician team who perform at the club. He's usually more quiet than his partner, Michael B.
HBO's AVENUE 5
- Zach Woods has booked a lead role on the comedy pilot starring Hugh Laurie. He currently stars in HBO's Silicon Valley, which is in the middle of an extended production hiatus before returning for its sixth season. He also appeared on all three seasons of USA's Playing House.
- He will play Matt Spencer, the head of Customer Relations. Despite being a nihilist, he is a nice guy who can't wait to get to the end of his final cruise before promotion to a more senior role on Earth. He has a performance background, but gave up trying to make it as an entertainer years ago.
THE CW's THE LOST BOYS
- Kiele Sanchez, Tyler Posey, Medalion Rahimi and Dakota Shapiro will star in the drama pilot written by Heather Mitchell. Moreover, Catherine Hardwicke has signed on to direct. Sanchez starred for four seasons in A&E's The Glades and three seasons in Audience's Kingdom. Posey starred for six seasons in MTV's Teen Wolf and has recurred on The CW's Jane the Virgin and Starz's Now Apocalypse. Rahimi starred in ABC's one-season drama Still Star-Crossed. Shapiro starred in the National Geographic limited series Valley of the Boom.
- Sanchez will play Lucy. Still mourning the death of her husband, she is forced to move back home to Santa Carla - something she's dreaded since causing a town scandal 27 years ago, when she ditched her boyfriend to run off with another man.
- Posey will play Michael, Lucy's eldest son. His plan to attend Columbia Medical School is thrown off by the diagnosis that he shares the same genetic weakness that killed his father. The only thing that consoles him is the friendship he strikes up with Stella.
- Rahimi will play Stella, a carefree Californian who runs a concession stand on the boardwalk. She has an immediate spark with Michael, but she's not single. She is dating the immortal vampire David. And now, she'll have to choose between the living and the undead.
- Shapiro will play David, every inch a rock star, bad-boy vampire who is sometimes scary and always intense. The leader of a vampire gang, he's wildly in love with Stella, who's the only one who can control him.
