USA to Debut Two New Dramas This Year

USA has picked up two more scripted series, boosting the network’s original programming slate to an all-time high.

A Legal Mind centers on a Manhattan corporate lawyer played by Gabriel Macht (Love and Other Drugs) whose new associate (Patrick J. Adams from Friday Night Lights) turns out to be only pretending to be a lawyer. The drama is from Universal Cable Productions. Hypnotic's Doug Liman and David Bartis are executive producers (they also are executive producers on USA's Covert Affairs). Creator Aaron Korsh (The Deep End) wrote the pilot and serves as co-executive producer and producer Gene Klein serves as producer.  Kevin Bray (White Collar, Burn Notice) directed the pilot.    Necessary Roughness stars Callie Thorne as a Long Island divorcee who takes a job as a therapist for a professional football in order to make ends meet and finds that the athletes actually respond to her brand of tough love. The series is a co-production between Sony Pictures Television and Universal Cable Productions. It was created by writers and co-executive producers Liz Kruger & Craig Shapiro (Miami Medical) along with supervising producers Donna Dannenfelser and Joe Sabatino.  Kevin Dowling (Sons of Tucson) directed the pilot and also serves as executive producer.     "At USA, we like to say that the quality of the material advances the projects – and these are two great pilots!" Jeff Wachtel, USA’s president, original programming, and co-head, original content, Universal Cable Productions, said in a statement.   Each series will have a 90-minute premiere with 11 one-hour episodes. 
  USA is looking toward summer premieres for both series.