New Shows Begin Off-Camera Shuffle

Zap2It.com | May 22, 2007

'Carpoolers'

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'Carpoolers,' 'Life' among those adding staff

With the dust from last week's upfronts now settled, several newly minted series are getting around to the task of shoring up their behind-the-camera rosters.

ABC has named comedy veteran Marsh McCall an executive producer of its new comedy "Carpoolers," and Scott Gemmill has joined the new drama "Women's Murder Club." NBC, meanwhile, has lured producer-director Daniel Sackheim to its newcomer "Life."

McCall, a veteran of "Just Shoot Me" and this season's short-lived "Twenty Good Years," has come aboard as showrunner of "Carpoolers," according to The Hollywood Reporter. The show, which is scheduled to air on Tuesdays in the fall, centers on four guys four guys (Fred Goss, Jerry O'Connell, Tim Peper and Jerry Minor) who live in the same suburban enclave and hash out their problems on their commute to work.

Bruce McCulloch ("Kids in the Hall") created the show and will remain an executive producer. David Miner, Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank are also exec producers.

Also at ABC, long-time "ER" hand Gemmill will be the showrunner on "Women's Murder Club," a crime show revolving around four women (Angie Harmon, Laura Harris, Paula Newsome and Aubrey Dollar) who work murder cases in San Francisco. The writing team of Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts ("Pepper Dennis," "North Shore") has also joined the show as co-exec producers.

The show already has a fairly extensive list of executive producers, including pilot writers Sarah Fain and Elizabeth Craft ("The Shield"), James Patterson (on whose novels the show is based), Brett Ratner and Joe Simpson.

At NBC, meanwhile, Sackheim will be an exec producer and will direct episodes of "Life," Variety reports. He currently works as a director and producer on FOX's "House" (which like "Life" is produced by NBC Universal TV); his credits also include "The X-Files," "Las Vegas," "Law & Order" and "NYPD Blue," for which he won an Emmy in 1994.