Ari Graynor Lands Lead Role in CBS’ ‘Bad Teacher’

CBS has found its bad teacher.

Ari Graynor has been tapped to star in the network’s comedy pilot Bad Teacher, an adaptation of the 2011 feature film.

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Based on the 2011 Cameron Diaz feature, the single-camera comedy centers on Meredith Davis, a foul-mouthed divorcee who becomes a teacher in order to find her next husband. Graynor will play Meredith, the role played by Diaz.

Meredith is a hot, confident and unapologetic trophy wife. She’s the kind of woman other women hate. But when her husband leaves her without a dime, the fantasy is over and she’s forced to get a job. When she hears there are a lot of rich single dads at a local middle school, she sets her sights on a teaching career. 

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The actress, who was drawing multiple offers for high-profile comedies this pilot season, joins a cast that also includes In Living Color‘s David Alan Grier as the school’s well-meaning but clueless principal, who is easily duped by Meredith’s charms.

Community‘s Hilary Winston will pen the script and executive produce the Sony Pictures Television comedy alongside Bad Teacher screenwriters Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky. Sam Hansen and Jimmy Miller also will serve as executive producers.

Graynor most recently appeared in The Guilt Trip, , For a Good Time, Call… and Celeste & Jesse Forever. On the TV side, she’s had voice roles in Fox’s American Dad, The Cleveland Show and Family Guy and played Rachel/Kelsie on Fringe and Caitlin Rucker on HBO’s The Sopranos. She’s repped by UTA, Principal Entertainment and Lichter Grossman.

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