Development News - March 25, 2019
ABC's Untitled Hannah Simone; CBS' Courthouse & The Unicorn; and NBC's Village Gazette.
CBS' COURTHOUSE
- Lindsay Mendez and Ruthie Ann Miles have been cast on the drama pilot starring Simone Missick and Marg Helgenberger. Mendez won a Tony Award for the 2018 Broadway revival of Carousel. Miles won a Tony Award in 2015 for the Broadway production of The King and I.
- Mendez will play Sara, an ebullient and optimistic court reporter who has surprising hidden talents. A close friend to Emily (Jessica Camacho), she hosts the Courthouse poker games and is a reliable source for gossip and courthouse intel.
- Miles will play Sherri, Lola's (Missick) judicial assistant. She controls the schedule, the witness lists, the flow of paperwork - everything. She can make defendants sit in the lockup and wait all day for the next appearance, or she can find a way to get them in and out before her morning coffee gets cold. Efficient, pragmatic and armed with wickedly dry sense of humor, she isn't thrilled she has to "train" Lola - a rookie judge.
ABC's UNTITLED HANNAH SIMONE PROJECT
- Art Malik will play the male lead on the comedy pilot co-written by and starring Hannah Simone. He starred in the ITV miniseries The Jewel in the Crown as well as the film True Lies.
- He will play Sid, Hannah's (Simone) Indian-American immigrant father. He is newly retired and a once-adventurous man who has fallen into a routine. He is still enthusiastic and gung-ho for all things American and fond of Western wear. He had moved to the United States so that his family could have a better life, and he is bursting with pride at Hannah's many accomplishments. However, all is not as it seems. When Sid learns that Hannah is in pretty dire straits, he becomes razor-focused, calling on his keen organizational skills to make sure Hannah doesn't fall down on the job.
NBC's VILLAGE GAZETTE
- Tommy Dewey is set as the male lead on the comedy pilot presentation starring Amber Ruffin. He previously starred for four seasons in Hulu's Casual. He has also recurred on CBS' Code Black and FOX's The Mindy Project.
- He will play Randall Westinghouse, an arrogant big-city reporter hired by the owners of the Benson Village Gazette. Looking to uncover a juicy story in Benson, he threatens to unravel the happy denial Amber (Ruffin) has been living in.
CBS' THE UNICORN
- Rob Corddry and Michaela Watkins will co-star on the comedy pilot starring Walton Goggins. Corddry created and starred in Adult Swim's Childrens Hospital, which ran for seven seasons. He currently stars in HBO's Ballers (which returns for its fifth season later this year) and is the co-creator of Netflix's upcoming comedy Medical Police. Watkins starred for four seasons in Hulu's Casual. She has also recurred on Amazon's Transparent and Catastrophe.
- Corddry will play Forrest, one of Wade's (Goggins) good friends who is married to the very opinionated, blunt and controlling Delia. He is a tightly wound and cerebral guy determined to look like a cool guy. He encourages Wade to start dating again to help his friend find happiness, but also might be living a little vicariously through Wade's foray into the world of online dating.
- Watkins will play Delia, who takes the helm when Wade starts looking to date again, though sometimes that means activating her husband to do the dirty work. Appalled at the entropy that has set in at the house since Wade's wife died, she thinks it's important to come up with a concrete plan of action.
