Chrissy Metz To Headline & EP ‘Help Me Rhonda’ PI Drama In Works At NBCU From James Patterson & ‘Life Sentence’ Creators

11.11.2022 - 02:27 / deadline.com

EXCLUSIVE: For her followup to This Is Us, Chrissy Metz has chosen another drama with siblings at the center. The This Is Us alumna is set to star in and executive produce Help Me Rhonda, which has landed a script plus penalty commitment at NBCUniversal.

Based on the best-selling novel 2 Sisters Detective Agency by James Patterson and Candice Fox, Help Me Rhonda comes from Life Sentence creators Erin Cardillo and Richard Keith, James Patterson Entertainment, Nina Tassler and Denise Di Novi’s PatMa Productions, Cathy Konrad’s Tree Line Film and Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.

Written by Cardillo and Keith, Help Me Rhonda centers on Rhonda Bird (Metz), a brash public defender, and Barbra Ann “Baby” Bird, the privileged teenage sister she never knew she had, reluctantly take over their late father’s private detective agency. While helping their father’s former clients, they uncover the truth about who their father really was.

Metz, Cardillo and Keith executive produce alongside Patterson, Bill Robinson, and Patrick Santa through James Patterson Entertainment, Tassler and Di Novi through PatMa Productions, Cathy Konrad through Tree Line Film and Lena Roklin from Luber Roklin.

As has been common practice over the past couple of years, Help Me Rhonda is being developed by NBCU’s consolidated entertainment content division before a decision is made whether the potential series would go to NBC, where This Is Us aired, on streamer Peacock.

For her role as Kate Pearson on This Is Us, which ran for six seasons, Metz earned an Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations. She recently starred in the indie film Stay Awake. Her memoir, This Is Me, debuted at #1 on The New York Times’ Bestseller list. She is