Gina Rodriguez To Headline ABC Comedy Pilot ‘Not Dead Yet’

Ramón Rodríguez is set as the lead role of ABC’s drama pilot Will Trent, which now has been officially cleared for production. He also will be a producer on the project, from 20th Television.

Meera Simhan (The Flash) is set as a lead opposite Reema Sampat and Chris Sullivan in The Son In Law, ABC’s single-camera comedy pilot from 20th Television.

Sasha Urban editorMeera Simhan has been cast in ABC’s comedy pilot “The Son in Law,” Variety has learned.Simhan will play Khushi Mehta, Asha’s (Reema Sampat) high-strung philanthropist mother. The show follows Asha’s relationship with Jake (Chris Sullivan), a plumber who is older and significantly less wealthy than Asha and her family, of which Asha’s mother disapproves.

Former Timeless star Malcolm Barrett has been tapped as the lead of the CBS comedy pilot The Hug Machine. Michaela Conlin and Allison Guinn also will star in the project, from Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist executive producer Sam Laybourne, Lonely Island’s Jorma Taccone and CBS Studios.

Nick Grad, president of original programming at FX, announced on Thursday that the network has ordered the pilot of an untitled half-hour comedy written by writer/director Lauren Ludwig. The project is a metaphysical comedy about a group of queer 20-somethings forced by the most unlikely source to confront their generational anxieties and unpack their emotional baggage. Ludwig will executive produce along with Chris & Paul Weitz through their production company Depth of Field.

Generation Gap, the game show from Jimmy Kimmel and Mark Burnett, is finally getting a slot at ABC.

FX has ordered the pilot of an untitled half-hour comedy written by Lauren Ludwig (American Auto, Rob Riggle’s Ski Master Academy).

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 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.

Krysta Rodriguez (Halston) and Lauren Lapkus (Good Girls) have been tapped as the leads in CBS’ multi-camera comedy pilot Sober Companion, from Jane the Virgin creator/executive producer Jennie Snyder Urman and CBS Studios, where Urman is under an overall deal.

Gina Rodriguez is going back to TV. Following her success with the TV series “Jane the Virgin,” which ended in 2019, Rodriguez is coming back to TV for another comedy.

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.

Katy Mixon (American Housewife), Christopher Gorham (Covert Affairs), Cree Cicchino (And Just Like That…) and Connor Kalopsis (The Grinder) are set as leads in Unplanned in Akron, CBS’ multi-camera comedy pilot from Schuyler Helford (Call Me Kat), Erik Feig’s Picturestart and CBS Studios.

Selome Hailu Cree Cicchino, Connor Kalopsis, Katy Mixon and Christopher Gorham have been cast in “Unplanned in Akron,” CBS’s teen-parenting comedy pilot from Schuyler Helford.The series follows two teenagers navigating parenthood in the best way they know how. With a little help from their friends and parents, they’ll learn that mistakes in life don’t have to derail your life — that no matter what age you are, taking care of a child is no joke — but sometimes, you just have to laugh (or cry) your way through it.Cicchino plays Brianna, who is sharp-witted, outspoken and unfiltered.

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.

ABC has rounded out the series regular cast for its single-camera comedy pilot Not Dead Yet. Josh Banday (Upload), Jessica St. Clair (Avenue 5), Mary Elizabeth Ellis (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Angela Gibbs (This Is Us) and Rick Glassman (As We See It) are set as leads opposite Gina Rodriguez in the pilot from The Real O’Neals creators Casey Johnson and David Windsor, McG and 20th Television.

civil lawsuits filed against the actor, the pending cancellation is likely unrelated, according to Variety, which first reported the story. “Match Game” last taped in 2020 before the pandemic and only ran two new episodes in 2021.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeThe Alec Baldwin-hosted “Match Game” isn’t expected to return to ABC, as the Alphabet web begins to firm up its plans for its annual game show-heavy summer lineup.Also unlikely to return are “Card Sharks,” “Celebrity Dating Game” and “The Hustler,” while “Celebrity Family Feud,” “Press Your Luck” and “The $100,000 Pyramid” are expected to be back.The fate of “Match Game” had been the source of speculation in the wake of Baldwin’s accidental shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the independent production “Rust” last fall. But ABC’s decision to cancel “Match Game” is not related to that incident; “Match Game” hasn’t been in production since 2020, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic — and only aired two new episodes in 2021, which had been left over from the previous year. The latest revival of “Match Game,” hosted by Baldwin, debuted in 2016, and ran for five seasons.

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.

Gina Rodriguez is headed back to television!