Erik Griffin Joins ABC Comedy Pilot ‘Bucktown’

EXCLUSIVE: Michael Cuesta (Homeland) has been tapped to direct and executive produce ABC’s drama pilot Promised Land.

Friends before fame! Celebrities including Ben Affleck and Matt Damon and Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie were childhood pals before becoming Hollywood stars.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterJohn Ortiz has been cast in a leading role of the ABC drama pilot “Promised Land,” Variety has learned.The show is described as an epic, generation-spanning drama about two Latinx families vying for wealth and power in California’s Sonoma Valley. Ortiz joins previously announced cast members Christina Ochoa and Mariel Molino.Ortiz will star as Joe Sandoval, the patriarch of the Sandoval family, a wealthy vineyard-owning family in the Sonoma Valley.

Mónica Marie Zorrilla Brittany O’Grady will headline ABC’s drama pilot “Epic,” hailing from “Once Upon a Time” creators Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis. The actor joins previously announced cast member Eleanor Fanyinka (“Masters of Love,” “Holby City,”) in the ABC Signature production.“Epic” is described as a romantic anthology series that reinvents fairy tales for a new audience.

EXCLUSIVE: Scandal alumna Katie Lowes is returning to network television and switching to half-hour comedy as a lead opposite Pete Holmes in CBS’ untitled Tom Smallwood multi-camera comedy pilot, from CBS Studios.

EXCLUSIVE: Andres Velez (Coyote Lake) has been cast as a lead alongside Christina Ochoa and Mariel Molino in ABC’s drama pilot Promised Land.

Mónica Marie Zorrilla Annie Gonzalez (“Gentefied”) and newcomer Sofia Capanna have been cast in the ABC multi-cam sitcom pilot “Bucktown,” joining previously announced cast members Jane Lynch (“Glee”), Shannon Woodward (“Westworld”) and Nicole Richie (“The Simple Life”).Per the show’s logline, the comedy follows Amy (Woodward) who, after being dumped by her boyfriend and kicked out of her apartment on the eve of a big promotion, finds refuge at her mom Helen’s (Lynch) house in the blue-collar

Joe Otterson TV ReporterChi McBride has joined the untitled CBS multi-cam comedy pilot based on the life of pro bowler Tom Smallwood, Variety has learned.In the series, after being laid off from the assembly line at the GM factory, seemingly ordinary man Tom (Pete Holmes) makes the extraordinary decision to provide for his family by following his dream of becoming a professional bowler.McBride will star as Archie.

Gentefied‘s Annie Gonzalez and newcomer Sofia Capanna are set as series regulars opposite Shannon Woodward, Jane Lynch and Nicole Richie in ABC comedy pilot Bucktown, from The Conners‘ Emily Wilson, Tom Werner and Sara Gilbert and ABC Signature.

UPDATE Eric McCormack will join the previously announced Mary-Louise Parker in the virtual performance of Paula Vogel’s The Baltimore Waltz, directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz, premiering on Thursday, April 29 as part of the virtual Spotlight on Plays series. Brandon Burton has also joined the cast.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterNatalia Anderson will direct the ABC single-camera comedy pilot “Maggie,” Variety has learned exclusively.Anderson started out as a director and producer on the CBS comedy series “Life in Pieces,” directing multiple episodes. Other TV directing credits for Anderson include “Black-ish,” “Single Parents,” “Brews Brothers,” “Grown-ish,” “American Housewife,” and “Perfect Harmony.” She previously worked at Brownstone Productions under Elizabeth Banks.

EXCLUSIVE: Angelique Cabral (Life in Pieces), Chloe Bridges (The Carrie Diaries) and Kerri Kenney (Reno 911) are set as series regulars opposite Rebecca Rittenhouse in ABC comedy pilot Maggie, based on Tim Curcio’s short film. The project hails from Family Guy and Life in Pieces writer Maggie Mull, daughter of Clue actor Martin Mull, and Life in Pieces creator Justin Adler. 20th Television produces. Additionally, Natalia Anderson (Life in Pieces) has been tapped to direct the pilot.

EXCLUSIVE: David Del Rio (The Baker and the Beauty), Chris Elliott (Schitt’s Creek), Ray Ford (Don’t Trust the B— in Apt. 23) and Leonardo Nam (Westworld) are set as series regulars opposite Rebecca Rittenhouse in ABC comedy pilot Maggie, based on Tim Curcio’s short film. The project hails from Family Guy and Life in Pieces writer Maggie Mull, daughter of Clue actor Martin Mull, and Life in Pieces creator Justin Adler. 20th Television produces.

EXCLUSIVE: Gil Bellows (Patriot, American Gods) has been cast opposite Adrienne Warren and Glynn Turman in ABC’s limited series Women of the Movement, from creator-writer Marissa Jo Cerar and a producing team that includes Jay-Z, Will Smith and Aaron Kaplan.

EXCLUSIVE: Mariel Molino has been cast as a lead alongside Christina Ochoa in ABC’s drama pilot Promised Land.

Deadline, a synopsis for the show - which has been created by Emily Wilson, Sara Gilbert and Tom Werner, the team behind The Conners - reads: 'Bucktown centers on Amy, who, after being dumped by her boyfriend and kicked out of her apartment on the eve of a big promotion, finds refuge at her mom's house in the blue-collar neighborhood where she grew up.

Class is in session for Quinta Brunson’s ABC school comedy pilot. Tyler James Williams (The United States vs. Billie Holiday), Janelle James (The Comedy Lineup), Chris Perfetti (The Night Of), Lisa Ann Walter (The Parent Trap) and Sheryl Lee Ralph (Instant Mom) round out the series regular cast, joining creator, star and exec producer Brunson in the pilot from Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker, Warner Bros. TV and 20th Television.

ABC is rounding out cast for multi-camera comedy pilot Black Don’t Crack (fka Untitled Regina Hicks). Essence Atkins (Marlon) and Tisha Campbell (My Wife and Kids) are set as the two remaining leads opposite Sherri Shepard, and Tahj Mowry (Baby Daddy), Beth Grant (Words on Bathroom Walls) and Isaiah Mustafa (It: Chapter Two) join as series regulars in the pilot from writer/executive producer Regina Hicks and exec producers Viola Davis & Julius Tennon and Larry Wilmore.

Danielle Turchiano Senior Features Editor, TVRebecca Rittenhouse has been cast as the titular lead in the ABC pilot “Maggie.”Hailing from 20th Television for the alphabet network, “Maggie” is a single-camera comedy based on Tim Curcio’s short film of the same name.

Rebecca Rittenhouse (Hulu’s Four Weddings and a Funeral) has landed the title role in ABC comedy pilot Maggie, based on Tim Curcio’s short film, from Family Guy and Life in Pieces writer Maggie Mull, daughter of Clue actor Martin Mull, and Life in Pieces creator Justin Adler. 20th Television produces.