The pilot season snowball continues to barrel down the mountain collecting name actors with every rotation, as news broke earlier today that former Law & Order: SVU star Christopher Meloni has landed the lead in the new Fox project from Bill Lawrence and Justin Halpern, based on Halpern’s book I Suck at Girls.
Meloni, who has been one of pilot season’s hottest properties since leaving Law & Order: SVU two years ago, will play Jack Dunlevy, a military man-turned oncologist who talks to everyone like they’re 75-years-old and dying of cancer: just a no bulls–t guy. Up to this point in his life, Jack’s just been the guy who’s gone to work early in the morning, come home late, eaten the big piece of chicken, yells at his kids, and goes to bed. But now his wife is going to law school, and he’s going to have to take a much more active role in his kids’ lives. [TV Line]
This is where I would normally make fun of the description of the show by getting super carried away with something that barely has anything to do with anything (probably involving CAPITAL LETTERS and imagined quotes from television executives), but (a) Bill Lawrence created Scrubs and Cougar Town, and I like those shows; (b) Christopher Meloni sounds like a really good fit for the role; and (c) STORY TIME.
I am somewhat Internet-friendly with Justin Halpern (mostly through occasional Film Drunk brain trust email threads involving Vince and Burnsy), so back when I saw the news break on Twitter that Fox was making this pilot, I zipped off a quick email to say congratulations. Somehow, because everything is weird all the time, the email I sent actually beat the phone call from Fox, meaning he found out his TV show was getting made via an email from some doof he only knows from trading a couple fart and poop jokes with for a movie website. I find this all hilarious, and I want the show to run for a dozen seasons and win a zillion Emmys so I can drunkenly tell that story at weddings from now until the day I die.
Point being, I’m probably not the most objective reporter on this one.
