NBC Orders Marriage Comedy Pilot, Mary-Louise Parker Circling as Star

Mary-Louise Parker may be returning to primetime.

The Weeds alum may reunite with NBC entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt and star in the half-hour comedy pilot Feed Me, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The single-camera vehicle, which was written on spec, is described as a comedic exploration of adult intimacy and desire that centers on a dysfunctional family bound by love and the restaurant they run together. And when daughter Emma’s husband has an affair, they circle the wagons to fiercely protect one of their own.

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Parker would play the lead, Ellen, a slightly OCD wife, mother of two and accountant who is stuck in her ways and whose approach to life is a challenge for those around her — including her husband, parents and brothers, most of whom are in the restaurant business. 

Sally Robinson (Dirt, Lifetime’s Steel Magnolias reboot, Iron Jawed Angels, Medicine Man) penned the script, which is based on an original idea, and will executive produce the Universal Television comedy alongside Witt-Thomas’ Paul Witt and Tony Thomas (The Golden Girls, Empty Nest, Blossom, Beauty and the Beast).

 

The pilot pickup would reunite Parker with Greenblatt, who during his tenure at Showtime greenlit the Jenji Kohan comedy that earned Parker three lead actress Emmy nominations, four Golden Globe mentions and one win for her role as pot-dealing mother Nancy Botwin. The new role would mark Parker’s first TV series gig since Weeds wrapped its eight-season run in September 2012.

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Parker was one of several actresses who have received multiple offers this pilot season. Sources tell THR that Greenblatt handed her a stack of scripts to peruse in a bid to bring the actress to NBC.

Since wrapping Weeds, Parker — who also won a supporting actress Emmy and Golden Globe for her role in HBO’s Angels in America adaptation — has focused on Broadway and features such as R.I.P.D., Jamesy Boy and Behaving Badly. She recently completed the Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie Christmas in Conway. Her credits also include The West Wing and The Robber Bride, both of which earned her Emmy nominations.

Robinson is repped by CAA; Parker is with WME and Frankfurt Kurnit.     

Feed Me‘s pilot order would bring NBC’s total pilot (and series haul) to 27, off one compared with 2013. It’s the network’s 18th comedy pickup of the season — up two year-over-year — and 14th single-camera half-hour (up three).

Email: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
Twitter: @Snoodit