Hulu Orders Comedy Pilot ‘Bammas’ Starring Opeyemi Olagbaju & Biniam Bizuneh, Ramy Youssef Producing

EXCLUSIVE: Hulu has handed a pilot order to History of a Pleasure Seeker, a one-hour musical drama based on Richard Mason’s novel of the same name. Mason is adapting his book himself with Bridgerton director Julie Anne Robinson helming the pilot and exec producing.

EXCLUSIVE: Ravi Patel (Wonder Woman 1984), Eric Edelstein (Creepshow) and Johnny Jay Lee (NCIS: Los Angeles) are set as series regulars in CBS comedy pilot Rust Belt News, from The Simpsons writer and The Mindy Project exec producer Matt Warburton. They join previously announced cast members Rich Sommer, Lauren Lindsey Donzis, Jayma Mays, Bailey Gavulic, Bentley Green and Angel Laketa Moore.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterGina Rodriguez is set for the lead role of the ABC comedy pilot “Not Dead Yet,” Variety has learned.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.

Former Jane the Virgin star Gina Rodriguez is returning to broadcast television as the lead in ABC’s single-camera comedy pilot Not Dead Yet from The Real O’Neals creators Casey Johnson and David Windsor, McG and 20th Television.

EXCLUSIVE: Reema Sampat (Orange Is the New Black) has been tapped as the female lead opposite Chris Sullivan in The Son In Law, ABC’s single-camera comedy pilot from 20th Television.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterABC has ordered a new pilot for the drama about the National Parks Investigative Services Branch, Variety has learned.The broadcaster commissioned a pilot for the project last year as well with a different creative team, though it ultimately did not go forward. The original team included Kevin Costner as co-writer and executive producer, but Costner is no longer attached to the project in any capacity.Instead, Rashad Raisani is writing and executive producing the pilot, which is described as a propulsive, soapy procedural set in the stunning world of National Parks.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe “Interview with the Vampire” series at AMC has cast Eric Bogosian in the role of Daniel Molloy.The series, which is currently in production, is based on the Anne Rice book of the same name and follows follows Louis de Pointe, Lestat De Lioncourt and Claudia’s epic story of love, blood and the perils of immortality. Bogosian joins previously announced cast members such as Sam Reid as Lestat, Jacob Anderson as Louis, and Bailey Bass as Claudia.Molloy is described as an investigative journalist nearing the end of his career who’s given a second chance at the interview of a lifetime.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterChris Sullivan is set to star in the ABC comedy pilot “The Son-in-Law,” Variety has confirmed.Sullivan will star as Jake, a divorced dad with one 21 year old daughter. Jake never thought he would love again, until Asha came along.

EXCLUSIVE: This Is Us star Chris Sullivan has been tapped as the lead of ABC’s single-camera comedy pilot The Son In Law, from 20th Century Television.

Wilson Chapman editorJo Koy’s ABC comedy pilot “Josep” is filling out its cast with three new series regulars.Kimee Balmilero, Tess Paras and Jason Rogel have been added to the series, which stars Koy as Jo, a divorced Filipino American father navigating dating, his career as a nurse and his complicated relationship with his mother.Balmilero will play Geraldine, Koy’s married sister who runs a Filipino restaurant with her white husband. Paras plays Cheryl, Jo’s ex-wife and mother to his son Miles.

Hulu is proceeding with a pilot order to Bammas, a comedy written, executive produced by and starring Opeyemi “Opey” Olagbaju & Biniam Bizuneh.

Chris Willman Music WriterEllen Zoe Golden, a veteran record industry publicist whose clients over the years included Billy Idol, Daryl Hall and John Oates, and Russell Simmons’ Hip-Hop Summits, died at her home in Tamarindo, Costa Rica. The cause of death was brain cancer, which Golden told friends she had been diagnosed with late last fall.

IMDb TV, Amazon’s premium free streaming service, has given a formal pilot order to Western, a half-hour period comedy from Sony Pictures Television, Amazon Studios and Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s Sony TV-based Lord Miller.

Amazon Studios has handed a two-season order to an adult animated comedy series from Emmy-nominated Ramy Youssef and A24. The series is part of a new first-look deal between Amazon Studios and Youssef’s production imprint Cairo Cowboy. The as-yet untitled comedy will exclusively stream on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAmazon has ordered two seasons of an animated comedy from Ramy Youssef, Variety has learned exclusively. The series is part of new first-look deal Youssef and his Cairo Cowboy production banner have signed with the streamer.Youssef leads Cairo Cowboy with Andy Campagna, the former senior vice president of television for Sam Esmail’s Esmail Corp.“Ramy has only scratched the surface of his incredible creative gifts,” said Vernon Sanders, head of global television for Amazon.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe “Quantum Leap” sequel series pilot at NBC has rounded out its main cast with three new additions.Caitlin Bassett, Nanrisa Lee, and Mason Alexander Park have all joined the cast of the project. They join previously announced cast members Raymond Lee and Ernie Hudson.In the followup to the original “Quantum Leap,” the new version takes place 30 years after Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterHulu has picked up the drama series “Career Opportunities in Murder and Mayhem” to series, Variety has learned.The series was ordered to pilot at the streamer in 2021. Hulu has given the one-hour drama a 10 episode first season order. Per the official description of the show, it asks the question how do you solve a murder in a post-fact world? Especially when sailing the Mediterranean on an ocean liner filled with the wealthy and powerful.

Disney+ has given an official green light to The Muppets Mayhem, a comedy series headlined by several Muppet stars and Lilly Singh (A Little Late with Lilly Singh).

EXCLUSIVE: Modern Family star Ariel Winter has been tapped as the lead of NBC’s multi-camera comedy series Hungry. She succeeds Demi Lovato who had been attached to the project for almost a year but stepped down from acting duties Thursday for scheduling reasons just as the pilot was about to start production.