‘The Good Lawyer’: Kennedy McMann & Felicity Huffman To Topline ‘The Good Doctor’ Spinoff; Air Date For Backdoor Pilot Set
11.01.2023 - 20:39
/ deadline.com
Nancy Drew star Kennedy McMann is set as the lead and Emmy-winning Desperate Housewives alumna Felicity Huffman as a co-lead in The Good Lawyer, the proposed legal spinoff from ABC’s popular medical drama The Good Doctor, from Sony Pictures Television and ABC Signature.
ABC has formally ordered an embedded pilot episode of The Good Doctor titled The Good Lawyer, which will guest star McMann and Huffman and will introduce their characters. Airing March 6, the episode, written by The Good Doctor co-showrunners David Shore and Liz Friedman and directed by Ruben Fleischer, marks the first acting gig for Huffman since she completed a short prison sentence for her role in the college admission scandal almost three years.
In “The Good Lawyer” episode, Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) seeks legal representation to help him win a case and puts his faith in a promising, young lawyer, Joni DeGroot (McMann) who has obsessive compulsive disorder.
The brilliant, funny and self-aware Joni is relatively new to her prestigious law firm when she takes Shaun’s case. Living with OCD, Joni has never wanted to be treated differently. While her symptoms take a toll on her personal and professional life, her attention to detail allows her to see cases through a different lens.
McMann, who has been open about her lifelong struggles with OCD, emerged as the top choice for the role by early September.
Huffman will guest star as Janet Stewart, a highly regarded attorney and partner at the law firm with a fierce intellect and dry wit. A seasoned veteran, Janet has represented Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff) in several legal matters over the years, so he turns to her to represent his beloved protégé. But when Shaun declares that he wants