'Pushing Daisies' star joins David E. Kelley's NBC show

Kristin Chenoweth is moving from one quirky TV project to another, having signed on to David E. Kelley's NBC pilot "Legally Mad."

The "Pushing Daisies" actress will co-star in the project, an offbeat legal drama about a woman who takes a job at her dad's law firm. She'll play one of the firm's attorneys, the showbiz trade papers report. A couple other pilots have also added to their casts, with Charlie McDermott joining ABC's comedy "The Middle" and Desi Lydic in CBS' "The Karenskys."

The description for Chenoweth's character in "Legally Mad" sounds like vintage Kelley: Although she has a brilliant legal mind, Skippy Pylon -- yes, Skippy Pylon -- has the occasional psychotic episode break through her relentlessly upbeat demeanor. Oh, and people tend to mistake her for a teenager.

Chenoweth earned an Emmy nomination this year for playing Olive Snook on "Pushing Daisies." She co-stars in "Four Christmases" and had a recurring role on the final seasons of "The West Wing."

"The Middle" stars Patricia Heaton as the head of a middle-class family in the Midwest. McDermott ("Frozen River," "Sex Drive") will play her oldest son.

CBS' comedy "The Karenskys," which comes from "Malcolm in the Middle" creator Linwood Boomer, stars Sasha Alexander ("NCIS") as a woman who returns to the arms of her large and strange family. Lydic ("The Real Wedding Crashers") will play Alexander's sister.