Gina Rodriguez to Star in ABC Comedy Pilot ‘Not Dead Yet’

Joe Otterson TV ReporterRamón Rodríguez has been cast in the lead role of the “Will Trent” drama pilot at ABC.The pilot had been given a cast contingent order back in February and will now officially move forward, with Rodríguez’s casting lifting the contingency.Based on Karin Slaughter’s bestselling “Will Trent” novel series, the pilot follows Special Agent Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI). Trent was abandoned at birth and endured a harsh coming-of-age in Atlanta’s overwhelmed foster care system.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterDavid Castañeda is the latest addition to the cast of the Natasha Lyonne & Rian Johnson series “Poker Face” at Peacock, Variety has learned exclusively.Lyonne will lead the drama series, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Stephanie Hsu also set to appear along with Castañeda. Plot and character details for the series are being kept largely under wraps, though sources say the show will follow a procedural format and see Lyonne’s character working to solve different murders in each episode.Castañeda is best known for his role in the hit Netflix series “The Umbrella Academy,” on which he plays Diego. The third season of the show is due out on June 22.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterBel Powley, Liev Schreiber, and Joe Cole are set to lead the limited drama series “A Small Light” at Disney Plus, Variety has learned.The eight-episode National Geographic series tells the true story of Miep Gies (Powley), who played a critical role in hiding Anne Frank and her family from the Nazis.20-something secretary Gies didn’t hesitate when her boss Otto Frank (Schreiber) asked her to hide him and his family during World War II. For the next two years, Miep, her husband Jan (Cole) and several other everyday heroes watched over the eight souls hiding in the secret annex.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterDana Calvo will serve as showrunner and executive producer on the upcoming ABC mystery drama “Avalon.”The show hails from co-creators David E. Kelley and Michael Connelly, with the show based on a short story that Connelly wrote. It was ordered straight-to-series at ABC in February.The series takes place in the main city of Avalon on Catalina Island, where LA Sheriff Department Detective Nicole “Nic” Searcy heads up a small office.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe action series “The Ledger” starring Xolo Maridueña has been set up at HBO Max for development, Variety has learned exclusively.The half-hour series was first reported as being shopped to networks and streamers back in October. It follows the trials and travels of Gabriel (Maridueña), a young man who sets out into the world to right the wrongs of the deadly man who trained him.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterNetflix has given a series order to the drama “Glamorous,” which was previously set up as a pilot at The CW.The show has received a 10-episode order, with Miss Benny set to star. It tells the story of Marco Mejia (Miss Benny), a young gender non-conforming queer man whose life seems to be stuck in place until he lands a job working for legendary makeup mogul Madolyn Addison. It’s Marco’s first chance to figure out what he wants out of life, who he actually is, and what it really means for him to be queer.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series at Disney Plus has cast Walker Scobell in the lead role, Variety has learned exclusively.The series adaptation of the Rick Riordan book series was ordered at the streamer back in January. The live-action show tells the fantastical tale of the titular 12-year-old modern demigod (Scobell), who’s just coming to terms with his newfound supernatural powers when the sky god Zeus accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt. Now Percy must trek across America to find it and restore order to Olympus.Percy is described as a smart and compassionate kid with a sharp sense of humor.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterJessica Alba will star in a series adaptation of the book “Confessions On the 7:45,” which is currently in development at Netflix.The show will be based on the Lisa Unger book of the same name. It is described as a psychological thriller about a working mom (Alba) who meets a stranger on a train as she is commuting home who upends her life.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterTom Hiddleston is set to star in the Apple limited series “The White Darkness,” Variety has learned.The series is based on the nonfiction book of the same name by David Grann. It is inspired by the true life account of Henry Worsley (Hiddleston), a devoted husband and father, a former soldier, a man of deep honor and sacrifice, but also a man deeply obsessed with adventure, manifesting in an epic journey crossing Antarctica on foot.Soo Hugh, who most recently created and showran the Apple series “Pachinko,” will serve as writer, executive producer, and co-showrunner on “The White Darkness.” Mark Heyman will executive produce and co-showrun. “Pachinko” executive producer Theresa Kang-Lowe and Caroline Garity of Blue Marble Pictures will also executive produce.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterFX has ordered a half-hour comedy pilot from Lauren Ludwig.The pilot is described as a metaphysical comedy about a group of queer twenty-somethings forced by the most unlikely source to confront their generational anxieties and unpack their emotional baggage.Ludwig is writing and executive producing the pilot. Chris & Paul Weitz of Depth of Field, Andrew Miano, Dan Balgoyen and Aaron Kogan will also executive produce.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterApple has ordered the limited series “The Big Cigar” about Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton, Variety has learned.The six-episode series hails from Warner Bros. Television, with André Holland in talks to star as Newton.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterWhoopi Goldberg is set to play Bird Woman in the upcoming Amazon series adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s “Anansi Boys.”The series follows Charlie Nancy (Malachi Kirby)—sometimes known as Fat Charlie (it was his father’s nickname for him; he’s not fat)—a young man who is used to being embarrassed by his estranged father (Delroy Lindo). But when his father dies, Charlie discovers that he was Anansi: Trickster God of stories. And he learns that he has a brother.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterLauren Lapkus and Krysta Rodriguez are set for the lead roles in the CBS multi-cam comedy pilot “Sober Companion,” Variety has learned.Rodriguez will play Eliza, described as a fun-loving, quick-witted alcoholic who runs a bookstore/bar with her uncle in New Orleans. After one too many run-ins with the law, she is assigned a court-appointed Sober Companion who will force her to confront her demons, get her act together, and stay sober, all while driving her completely nuts.Lapkus will play Shelley, Eliza’s Sober Companion.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterApple has greenlit the pyschological thriller series “Constellations” with Noomi Rapace and Jonathan Banks attached to star, Variety has learned.In “Constellation,” Rapace stars as Jo, a woman who returns to Earth after a disaster in space only to discover that key pieces of her life seem to be missing. The series is further described as a space adventure, an exploration of the dark edges of human psychology, and one woman’s desperate quest to expose the truth about the hidden history of space travel and for her to recover all that she has lost.Apple has given the show a 10 episode order.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterRob Lowe and his son, John Owen Lowe, have teamed with Victor Fresco on the Netflix comedy series “Unstable,” Variety has learned.The Lowes will star in the series and also co-created it with Fresco, with all three serving as executive producers. It is set in a cutting-edge biotech research company, following an introverted, socially-challenged son who goes to work for his very successful, wildly eccentric father in order to save him from disaster.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterGeorge Lopez and Mayan Lopez’s NBC comedy pilot “Lopez vs. Lopez” has added three new cast members, Variety has learned exclusively.Selenis Levya, Brice Gonzalez, and Matt Shivley will star alongside the Lopezes in the multi-cam pilot.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterBob Odenkirk could already have a new AMC show lined up.Variety has learned that the “Better Call Saul” star is attached to lead a new dramedy series that is currently being fast-tracked in development at AMC. The series is called “Straight Man,” based on the Richard Russo novel of the same name. It is described a mid-life crisis tale set at Railton College, told in the first person by William Henry Devereaux, Jr.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe ABC comedy pilot “Not Dead Yet” starring Gina Rodriguez has found five new series regulars, Variety has learned.Josh Banday (“Pam & Tommy,” “Upload”), Jessica St. Clair (“Playing House,” “Avenue 5”), Mary Elizabeth Ellis (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “Licorice Pizza”), Angela Gibbs (“Black Jesus,” “Hacks”), and Rick Glassman (“Old Dads,” “A Futile and Stupid Gesture”) will all appear alongside Rodriguez.In the single-cam pilot, Nell Stevens (Rodriguez) is broke, newly single and feeling old. Nell – a self-described disaster – works to restart the life and career she left behind 10 years ago.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterHarrison Ford has signed on to star opposite Jason Segel in the Apple comedy series “Shrinking,” Variety has learned.The show was first announced in October 2021. Segel will write the series alongside “Ted Lasso” co-creator Bill Lawrence and “Ted Lasso” star, writer, and co-executive producer Brett Goldstein.“Shrinking” follows Jimmy (Segel), a grieving therapist who starts to break the rules and tell his clients exactly what he thinks.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterBoth “The Rookie” and “The Good Doctor” have been renewed at ABC.For “The Rookie,” that means the show will go to a fifth season, while “The Good Doctor” will be back for a sixth. “The Rookie” currently airs Sundays on ABC with “The Good Doctor” airing on Mondays.The renewals come as ABC is also prepping a potential spinoff of “The Rookie” starring Niecy Nash. The spinoff will be introduced in a two-episode backdoor pilot during “The Rookie’s” fourth season.“The Rookie” stars Nathan Fillion as John Nolan, Mekia Cox as Nyla Harper, Alyssa Diaz as Angela Lopez, Richard T.