CBS has placed series orders for three highly-anticipated shows amidst the writers’ strike. According to Deadline, the studio has picked up Kathy Bates’ (American Horror Story, Richard Jewell) Matlock reboot; Robert and Michelle King’s spinoff, Elsbeth; and, comedy from Wayans father and son duo, Damon and Damon Jr., entitled Poppa’s House. Each show is slated for the 2023-2024 season.
The formerly untitled comedy pilot reunites father and son onscreen for the first time since 2018’s Happy Together, which aired on CBS for one season. Poppa’s House will see the elder Wayans play a veteran radio show host who experiences a culture shock when he’s forced to pair with a new female co-host. As he battles the changing times on the job, he’s challenged at home as his adult son, Damon Jr., moves back in after a career change with his own family to raise.
According to Deadline, Essence Atkins (The Company You Keep, Half and Half) has been cast as Ivy, Damon’s new coworker. Tetona Jackson (Boomerang, All Night) will play Nina, Damon Jr.’s wife. The show is co-written by both Wayanses and Kevin Hench (Last Man Standing, The Santa Clauses), and produced through Damon Wayans Jr.’s Two Shades Entertainment.
As a spinoff of the Kings’ critically acclaimed The Good Wife and The Good Fight, Elsbeth will star Carrie Preston’s (Claws, True Blood) Elsbeth Tascion as she takes her unique talents from Chicago for a new career assisting the NYPD. Preston will be joined by Wendell Pierce (The Wire, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan) and Carra Patterson (The Arrangement, The Subject). Pierce will portray Captain Wagner and Patterson will play NYPD officer, Kaya Blake.
Deadline reports the Kings will executive produce via their King Size Productions along with Liz Glotzer (Damsel in Distress, Bernie) and showrunner Jonathan Tolins (BrainDead, The Twilight of the Golds).
Last but not least, Bates is Madeline Matlock in a reboot of the iconic legal drama which starred Andy Griffith (The Andy Griffith Show). After a successful career in her own right, Madeline joins a new law firm to fight crime and corruption within the system. Bates will be joined by David Del Rio and Leah Lewis, who will play Billy and Sarah, respectively. The cast also includes Skye P. Marshall (To Her, With Love, A Nice Girl Like You) and Jason Ritter (Raisin Dion, Gravity Falls), via Deadline. Jennie Snyder Urman (Jane the Virgin, Charmed) will write the new series with Kat Coiro set to direct (She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Marry Me).
The announcement comes after recent cancellations of rookie series East New York and True Lies. The network also will not move forward with the adaptation of the popular comic, JumpStart, via Deadline.