Josh Cooke cast as male lead in comedy pilot

11:43 PM PDT 10/13/2010 by Nellie Andreeva, AP

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THR EXCLUSIVE

Josh Cooke has been tapped as the male lead in ABC's untitled Shana Goldberg-Meehan comedy pilot.

Additionally, Skyler Stone has landed a lead in a Fox pilot, the Greg Garcia comedy "Keep Hope Alive," and Michaela McManus has joined the CW's drama pilot "Nomads."

The Shana Goldberg-Meehan comedy revolves around Maddie (Jennifer Finnigan) and Ben (Cooke), a professionally successful and happily unmarried couple for nine years whose status quo is shattered when Maggie's younger sister (Joanna Garcia) gets pregnant and engaged.

The single-camera "Hope," which was shot in December, centers on Jimmy (Lucas Neff), a 25-year-old single parent raising an infant with the help of his quirky family after the baby's mother, with whom he had a one-night stand, ends up on death row.

In a recasting, Stone, repped by the Marshak/Zachary Co., will play Jimmy's unkempt cousin Mike after the gender of the character was switched back to male. Kate Micucci played the role in the original pilot.

On "Nomads," about backpackers-turned-CIA operatives, McManus will play an Army brat with aspirations to join the agency.