Leslie Odom Jr. is turning ABC into the room — er, network — where it happens.
The Tony-winning actor (Broadway’s Hamilton) is set to star in and executive-produce an untitled comedy series at the Alphabet network, inspired by real-life couple Pastor Touré Roberts and Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts, who preach at a Los Angeles church.
The potential series, which has received a put-pilot commitment from ABC, will center on Leslie (played by Odom Jr.) and Hope, joint pastors at a young, hip, diverse L.A. church. Through their services, online streams and books, they are experts at uniting people across different races, genders, orientations and opinions. But when it comes to uniting the people in their blended family, they are way out of their comfort zone.
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Odom Jr. will executive-produce alongside Scandal‘s Kerry Washington and the real-life Roberts couple.
Ready for more of today’s newsy nuggets? Well…
* Elena Tovar (General Hospital) will recur on Season 3 of the recently rescued Designated Survivor as Isabel, the White House’s director of social innovation, per Deadline.
* Freeform is developing Joyland, a drama series based on the 2013 Stephen King novel of the same name. The project focuses on Devin Jones, a college student who takes a summer job at the titular North Carolina amusement park and must confront the legacy of a vicious murder and the fate of a dying child.
* Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek and Wheel of Fortune duo Pat Sajak and Vanna White all have renewed their contracts with Sony Pictures Television through 2022.
* CBS on Wednesday launched ET Live, a free, 24/7 streaming network that serves as a companion to the on-air Entertainment Tonight broadcast. The network — which will feature breaking entertainment news, celebrity interviews, red carpet coverage and more — is currently available through ETLive.com, the ET Live app on iOS and Android devices, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV.
* Oscar-nominated actress Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) has joined black-ish in the recurring role of Kyra, Dre’s young cousin who comes to stay with the Johnson family when her mom can’t take care of her. According to Deadline, her first episode will air in 2019.
