Casting News ABC Pilots for Fall 2012

ABC Buys Multi-Camera Comedy Starring Jim Breuer



ABC has bought a multi-camera comedy starring Saturday Night Live alum Jim Breuer. Former According To Jim executive producers Judd Pillot and John Peaslee will write and run the project, which originated at ABC Studios. It is a multi-generational comedy that follows Breuer and his wife living under the same roof with his father and three daughters. Levity Entertainment Group, which manages Breuer, is attached to executive produce. Breuer, who is a regular guest on the The Howard Stern Show, is repped by UTA, which also reps Pillot and Peaslee, along with Brillstein.

It’s A ‘Cheers’ Reunion – Rhea Perlman To Co-Star In Kirstie Alley’s ABC Comedy Pilot




EXCLUSIVE: Rebecca and Carla together again! Rhea Perlman is reuniting with her Cheers co-star Kirstie Alley on a potential new multi-camera comedy series, this time on ABC. Perlman has closed a deal to co-star opposite Alley in Alley’s ABC comedy pilot The Manzanis. The family comedy written by sitcom veterans Marco Pennette and Dave Flebotte stars Alley as Angela Manzani, an opinionated wife/mother who, along with her Italian American family, moves to a quiet New Jersey neighborhood where they clash with their new, WASPy neighbors. Perlman will play Angela’s mother in law Camille Manzani. ABC Studios and studio-based Brillstein Entertainment Partners are producing, with Pennette, Flebotte, JoAnn Alfano, Aaron Kaplan and Jason Weinberg executive producing. Since their six-season stint together on Cheers, Perlman and Alley have appeared together only once — when Perlman played herself in an episode of Alley’s Showtime docu-series Fat Actress.

ABC Buys Comedy Starring Ashley Tisdale



EXCLUSIVE: High School Musical alumna Ashley Tisdale has sold a semi-autobiographical comedy project to ABC that will be executive produced by Warren Littlefield. Tisdale is set to star in and co-executive produce the multi-camera project, titled Under Construction, which is inspired by her life and centers on a young woman whose independence is put on hold when she is forced to move back home while her father renovates her recently purchased “money pit” along with her life. David Holden (Accidentally On Purpose) will write the script and co-executive produce. Also co-executive producing are Tisdale and her partner Jessica Rhoades through their Blondie Girl Prods. and Tom Forman for RelativityREAL where Blondie Girl has a development deal. Through that deal, Blondie Girl has several other projects in the works, including unscripted series Miss Advised, in production at Bravo. This marks a return to the multi-camera comedy genre for Tisdale, who started off on Disney Channel’s multi-camera sitcom The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody. Tisdale rose to fame as one of the stars of Disney Channel’s mega-hit High School Musical, which segued to the big screen. Tisdale, repped by CAA and manager Bill Perlman, continues to voice characters on Disney Channel’s animated hit Phineas And Ferb and recently executive produced and starred in the channel’s HSM spinoff movie Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure. She also starred on the CW drama Hellcats last season. This is CAA-repped Holden’s second sale at ABC this season. His family/dating comedy The Singles landed a script plus penalty commitment from the network in August.

Marlon Wayans To Create And Star In ABC Sibling Cop Comedy



EXCLUSIVE: Sixteen years after he co-created and starred in the WB comedy series The Wayans Bros, which ran for five seasons, Marlon Wayans is returning to broadcast TV with another comedy project about brothers, this time at ABC. Wayans will write, executive produce and star in a hybrid single/multi-camera comedy in development at the network that is produced by ABC Studios. The comedy, which has an odd couple/buddy cop comedy feel to it, centers on two brothers, both cops. Having fallen down on his luck, one of them moves in with his brother and his family. Wayans, who will play the married brother, is executive producing with his manager Lisa Blum and longtime producing partner Rick Alvarez of Wayans Bros Entertainment, Wayans’ production company with brothers Keenan Ivory and Shawn. CAA-repped Wayans, who started off working with his bothers on Fox’s sketch show In Living Color, co-wrote and starred in the Wayans clan’s Scary Movie franchise as well as White Chicks and Little Man. He is currently working with Jennifer Pryor and director Bill Condon on the Richard Pryor biopic, to which he is attached to star.

ABC To Develop Comedy Series Project Produced By And Starring Judy Greer



EXCLUSIVE: Judy Greer, who is recurring on CBS’ revamped Two And A Half Men this season, is developing her own series at ABC targeted for next fall. ABC is finalizing a deal for the half-hour single-camera comedy, which will be written by feature scribes Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan (Made Of Honor). The project is inspired by Greer’s life, where she moved from Los Angeles for the man she loves and found herself raising stepchildren and making new friends in a small suburban town. Greer, repped by CAA and Principato-Young, is producing, with Elfont, Kaplan and Principato-Young’s Peter Principato, Paul Young and David Gardner executive producing. On the big screen, Greer will next be seen in Alexander Payne’s The Descendants and Jay Duplass’ Jeff Who Loves At Home. On TV, she co-starred on the CBS comedy Mad Love last season.

Comedy Starring Mandy Moore And Directed By Shawn Levy Lands At ABC With Put Pilot



EXCLUSIVE: In a competitive situation with 3 networks bidding, ABC has landed a single-camera comedy starring actress/singer Mandy Moore with a put pilot commitment. The project will be written by Wedding Crashers co-writer Bob Fisher, directed by Shawn Levy and produced by Marty Adelstein and Levy’s 21 Laps/Adelstein in association with 20th Century Fox TV. The untitled half-hour is a single camera family comedy that explores the inherent conflict between the families we grow up in and the families we make. It’s told through the lens of a young, newlywed couple – Annie (played by Mandy Moore) and Ben. Fisher, Levy, Adelstein and Becky Clements are executive producing, with Moore’s manager Jon Leshay producing. This marks the first regular series gig for Moore, who has been busy in features. She is currently in production on Chris Sparling’s Falling Slowly and recently voiced the lead in the Disney animated movie Tangled, with her song, I See The Light, earning an Oscar nomination. On TV, she had a recurring role on ABC’s medical drama Grey’s Anatomy. WME-repped Moore released her most recent album in 2009. Comedy veteran Fisher most recently developed and executive produced the Fox/20th TV comedy series Traffic Light.

Michael Rispoli Lands Male Lead Opposite Kirstie Alley in ABC Pilot ‘The Manzanis’



EXCLUSIVE: Michael Rispoli (The Black Donnellys) has landed the male lead opposite Kirstie Alley in ABC’s multi-camera comedy pilot The Manzanis. Also cast in the family comedy is veteran actor Robert Costanzo. Written by sitcom veterans Marco Pennette and Dave Flebotte, The Manzanis stars Alley as Angela Manzani, an opinionated wife/mother who, along with her Italian American husband, Nick Manzani (Rispoli), and their 3 kids moves to a quiet New Jersey neighborhood where they clash with their new, WASPy neighbors. Constanzo will play Nick’s father, Joe, while Rhea Perlman was recently cast to play Nick’s mother, Camille. ABC Studios and studio-based Brillstein Entertainment Partners are producing, with Pennette, Flebotte, JoAnn Alfano, Aaron Kaplan and Jason Weinberg executive producing. Rispoli next co-stars on Starz’s period drama Magic City.

PILOT CASTINGS: Four In Dan Fogelman Comedy



EXCLUSIVE: Jami Gertz and Simon Templeman are set to star in ABC’s single-camera comedy pilot from feature writer Dan Fogelman (Crazy, Stupid, Love). The project, produced by ABC Studios, centers on a family that moves into a highly desirable gated community in New Jersey only to discover that the entire neighborhood is made up of aliens disguised as humans. Gertz will play Debbie Weaver, the matriarch of the human family. Video game voice actor Templeman will play Wilt Chamberlain, the leader of the aliens. Also cast in the pilot are Toks Olagundoye as Jackie Joyner Kersee, the matriarch of the lead alien family and Tim Jo (TBS’ Glory Daze) as Joe Montana, son of the alien family. Chris Koch (Modern Family) will direct the pilot, which is executive produced by Fogelman, Koch and Aaron Kaplan of Kapital Entertainment. Still Standing alumna Gertz most recently recurred on HBO’s Entourage and guest starred on Modern Family. Jo is with Innovative and David Dean Management.

ABC Signs Talent Deal With ‘Filly Brown’ Star Gina Rodriguez



EXCLUSIVE: Gina Rodriguez, who is garnering a lot of buzz for her starring role in the Sundance entry Filly Brown, has signed a talent holding deal with ABC and ABC Studios to star in a pilot targeted for next season. She is yet to be attached to a project as ABC has just started picking up its pilots. One possibility is Marc Cherry’s Devious Maids, which revolves around four Latina women who are maids in Beverly Hills. Rodriguez first got the attention of ABC executives last year when she guest starred on the network’s comedy Happy Endings. Her series’ credits also include an arc on Army Wives. The deal comes on the eve of the Friday world premiere of Rodriguez’s movie Filly Brown at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Already identified as a film buyers are watching for, Filly Brown, co-directed by Youssef Delara and Michael Olmos, centers on a young hip-hop artist from Los Angeles (Rodriguez) whose budding career comes to a crossroads when she’s offered a crack at stardom by a shady producer. Here is a scene from the movie posted earlier today by my colleague Mike Fleming. Rodriguez is with Paradigm and Intellectual Artists.

ABC Casts for Last Resort

Daniel Lissing (The Cure) is the first actor cast in ABC’s drama pilot Last Resort, from Shawn Ryan and Karl Gajdusek. The Sony TV-produced project centers on the crew of the U.S.S. Nevada, a nuclear submarine, who, after disobaying a suspicous order, become fugitives. They land on the island of Sainte Marina, where they take over the NATO Listening Station and declare themselves an independent nuclear nation. Lissing will play a member of the crew, SEAL officer James King, a lethal killer with no ties back home.