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CBS joined NBC and Fox in the pilot-pickup swing Wednesday, adding a drama from Grey’s Anatomy alums Tony Phelan and Joan Rater as well as a comedy inspired by the life of stand-up comedian Tommy Johnagin.
The untitled Phelan/Rater drama was the Grey’s Anatomy duo and real-life couple’s first project set up at the network under their new overall deal with CBS Television Studios. The untitled entry, which received a hefty put-pilot commitment from the network, centers on a smart, chic, successful defense lawyer at a boutique firm who shockingly gets romantically involved with one of her clients, who may or may not be guilty of a brutal crime.
Read more TV Pilots 2015: The Complete Guide
Phelan and Rater will pen the script and executive produce the CBSTVS drama alongside Timberman-Beverly Productions’ Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly. (Timberman and Beverly are also based at CBSTVS.) This marks the couple’s first pilot under their overall deal with CBSTVS. Under the pact, Phelan and Rater currently serve as consulting producers on CBS’ Tea Leoni drama Madam Secretary, which has already been renewed for a second season. Beverly and Timberman also exec produce CBS’ The Odd Couple (set for midseason), VH1’s Hindsight, CBS’ Elementary, Showtime’s Masters of Sex and FX’s Justified.
See more Broadcast TV’s Returning Shows 2015-16
On the comedy side, Johnagin will star in an untitled comedy pilot produced by Surviving Jack duo Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker and executive produced by Bill Lawrence. The comedy, inspired by Johnagin’s life, centers around a stand-up comic raising a family in the small Midwestern town where he grew up. The multicamera comedy hails from Warner Bros. Television, where Lawrence’s Doozer Productions, Halpern and Schumacker are under overall deals. The comedy landed at the network with a hefty production commitment in September. Johnagin, Halpern and Schumacker will pen the script. Lawrence, Doozer topper Jeff Ingold, Halpern and Schumacker will exec produce. Johnagin will also be credited as a co-executive producer. Should the comedy go to series, it would join Lawrence’s TBS comedies Ground Floor and Cougar Town as well as NBC’s Undateable.
The pilot pickups join previously announced comedies The Mistake and Taxi-22 (both of which were rolled from last week); and dramas Austen’s Razor and its Criminal Minds spinoff starring Gary Sinise.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
Twitter: @Snoodit
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