Pilots: Kelsey Grammer, Neil Flynn to ABC

Zap2It.com | January 7, 2009

Kelsey Grammer

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'Frasier' and 'Scrubs' stars join comedy projects

Kelsey Grammer is about to lose it all on ABC.

The former "Frasier" star and multiple Emmy winner has agreed to star in a comedy pilot for ABC, playing a Wall Street executive who loses his job and is forced to move his family back to his hometown. "Everybody Loves Raymond" veteran Tucker Cawley is writing the pilot, the showbiz trade papers report.

Also at ABC, "Scrubs" star Neil Flynn has joined Grammer's "Back to You" co-star, Patricia Heaton, in the comedy pilot "The Middle," about a middle-class, Midwestern couple with three kids.

Grammer is making his second pilot for ABC. He starred in a comedy called "Roman's Empire" last season, but it didn't make the cut for this season.

The new project, which doesn't have a title yet, could be part of a trend in TV development for next season, as writers and producers look for subject matter that reflects the country's economic woes. Cawley, an Emmy winner himself for his work on "Raymond," will executive produce with Grammer, Tom Werner and Mike Clements.

Flynn plays the Janitor on "Scrubs," which made its ABC debut this week and is likely in its final season. Other recent credits include "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and a guest appearance on "My Boys."