Alan Cumming may be returning to CBS earlier than most people would have expected. The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Cumming has been cast in the pilot of Dr. Death, which will be based off the upcoming James Patterson novel of the same name.
Patterson’s novel will be released sometime in 2017.
The Dr. Death adaptation will be the second book-to-TV show that is currently on the network as Zoo airs during the summers. TVLine reported that the show was renewed for its third season back in August.
Zoo and Dr. Death aren’t the only novel adaptions that’s aired on the network in recent years. CBS aired Under The Dome, the Stephen King novel, for three seasons before it was canceled in 2015.
The show centers on a retired CIA operative who is trying to live a normal life where he works as a college professor and is a writer. He returns to investigative work when a serial killer is on the loose in New York City and the New York Police Department asks for his help in solving the case.
Along with starring in the series, Cumming will also be an executive producer of the show, along with Michael Rauch, Patterson, Alex Kurtzman Heather Kadin, Bill Robinson and Leopoldo Gout. Rauch will also write the pilot. With CBS Studios also working on the show, that gives it a higher chance of getting picked up since it’s an in-studio show.
Rauch is known for his work on Royal Pains, which just wrapped its final season on USA in the summer, where it was on the air for eight seasons.
Cumming just wrapped his seven-season run as Eli Gold, the political adviser and campaign manager of Peter Florrick’s multiple campaigns, on The Good Wife. He was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards during the show’s run.
With his on-screen daughter, Sarah Steele, appearing in the CBS All Access spinoff of The Good Wife, maybe viewers will get to see Eli a few times during the show’s run.
Cumming is known for his theater, film and television work, which includes a guest role in Sex and the City, playing Rooster in the Disney version of Annie, Spy Kids and Burlesque.
Since the show is in the pilot stage, there’s no other casting information and there’s no premiere date for the show.