NBC is doing some method casting on its pilot Newlyweds, with Tèa Leoni and Tim Daly, who tied the knot last July, playing the titular leads in the multi-camera comedy. Daly has closed a deal to join Leoni in the pilot, co-created by Gail Lerner and Jamie Lee Curtis. It marks an on-screen reunion of the duo who also plays a husband and wife on the 2014 CBS drama series Madam Secretary.
Written by Lerner, Newlyweds is a later-in-life love story about a free-spirited woman, Jeanie (Leoni), and a buttoned-up professor, Tony (Daly) who marry impetuously after a whirlwind courtship.
Recently divorced, Tony accidentally runs into Jeanie (Leoni) at a valet stand and is so taken with her beauty and spirit that they wind up having dinner together anyway. Tony soon realizes that his life with Jeanie is not going to be the quiet, stay-at-home lifestyle he enjoys, but he also knows he’d rather change his ways than live without her.
Curtis, who had been attached to star as Jeanie in a previous incarnation of the project, had been expected to take on a supporting/guest role in the NBC version. She will play Tony’s ex-wife, I hear.
Lerner and Curtis executive produce alongside Eric Tannenbaum, Kim Tannenbaum, Scott Schwartz and Lionsgate Television. Leoni is a producer.
The pilot, from Universal Television, is being directed by decorated multi-camera director Pam Fryman (How I Met Your Mother). She directed the pilot for and serves as executive producer/director on NBC’s hit sophomore sitcom Happy’s Place, for which the network has been developing potential companions, including Newlyweds.
Daly, known for his starring role on NBC’s Wings and Emmy-nominated for his guest stint on HBO’s The Sopranos, has a recurring role in the Netflix comedy “Leanne” and also recently did a guest-starring arc on the Amy Schumer Hulu series “Life & Beth.” He is repped by IAG, Gateway Management & Production and Behr Abramson Levy Johnson.
English (US) ·