EXCLUSIVE: Sadie Calvano (Mom) and Gabe Gibbs (Schooled) have joined the main cast of the as-yet-untitled NBC comedy pilot from Kari Linzer (Will & Grace, The New Adventures of Old Christine) starring Katey Sagal and Jane Lynch. Additionally, UTV has taken over as the studio from Paramount.
The project follows Ginger (Sagal) and Jill (Lynch), who have always been a team – from college to their best-selling sex and relationship books – they’re opposites that work best together. The past few years, however, they’ve been estranged, and when they run into each other at a mutual ex’s funeral, their bad blood goes public. As they sort their past and look toward their future, they’ll discover that in spite of it all, they’re still better together.
Inspired by real-life best friends and sex experts, Pepper Schwartz and Janet Lever, both of whom serve as consulting producers.
Calvano will play Joni, Ginger’s daughter, and a budding lawyer who’s a super straight arrow.
Gibbs will play Lennon, Ginger’s son, who is bright, sensitive, and a bit of a Mama’s boy.
Executive producers include Lizer, Lynch, Sagal, Krista Vernoff, Andrew Stearn, Alexandre Schmitt, Shelley Zimmerman, and Blair Bigelow. Pamela Fryman will direct and executive produce the pilot. Paramount Television Studios and Trip the Light Productions produce.
Calvano is widely known for her role on the CBS series Mom, where she starred opposite Anna Faris and Allison Janney. Her recent work includes a leading role in the CBS streaming series, Why Women Kill, and the Netflix original film, The Package. She is repped by Industry Entertainment.
Gibbs recurred on ABC’s Schooled and has guest-starred on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy. He co-starred in the national tour of The Book of Mormon and has focused mainly on writing and creating original music-driven projects. Gibbs filmed his first musical comedy special, Pick a Lane, which debuted on YouTube in February. He is repped by Gersh, Walk the Walk, and Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum.