Eric McCormack, Freddie Prinze Jr. land ABC pilots

Zap2It.com | March 19, 2009

Eric McCormack

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'Trust Me' star headed back to network comedy

Eric McCormack is returning to network TV in a comedy pilot at ABC -- which probably means bad news for his cable dramedy, TNT's "Trust Me."

He's the headliner in the latest round of pilot casting at the Alphabet, which also includes Freddie Prinze Jr. joining "No Heroics," Lindsay Sloane in the comedy "Pulling" and Holly Robinson Peete and Josh Braaten joining Lauren Graham in "The Bridget Show."

McCormack will play one of the leads in an untitled comedy from "Scrubs" writer Tad Quill, the Hollywood Reporter says. The "Will & Grace" star will play a doctor who just had a baby. Reno Wilson ("Heist," "Blind Justice") will play the other lead, a close friend of McCormack's who's in a very different place in his life: His kids have just moved out. The cast will also include Jolie Jenkins and Constance Zimmer ("Entourage") as McCormack's and Wilson's wives.

The casting of McCormack will technically take second priority to "Trust Me," but the TNT show, which has attracted only so-so ratings, isn't expected to earn a second season.

"No Heroics" is based on a British show about a group of B-list superheroes (Paul Campbell, Arielle Kebbel, Eliza Coupe). Prinze, in what would be his first series since "Freddie" in 2005-06, will play their nemesis, a smug hero who gets all the attention.

"Pulling" is also based on a British series and follows a woman (Sloane, "The TV Set," "Grosse Pointe") who breaks up with her fiance right before their wedding and moves in with two single friends. Mary Elizabeth Ellis ("It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia") will play one of Sloane's new roommates, and Charlie Finn ("Help Me Help You") will play the fiance.

"The Bridget Show" (formerly "Let It Go") stars Graham as a TV relationship guru who leaves her show to be with a man and, after being dumped a few years later, tries to mount a comeback. Peete ("Like Family") will play a therapist who takes over Bridget's show and becomes a star in her own right, and Braaten ("Semi-Pro") will play the brother of the guy who dumped Bridget.