Two of our favorite actresses are coming to the small screen.
Broadway legend-turned-movie star Idina Menzel has signed on for the lead in “Happy Time,” a half-hour comedy project for the 2015–6 development cycle from Warner Bros. and Ellen DeGeneres’ A Very Good Production. Deadline reports that Menzel, who sang the National Anthem at last Sunday’s Super Bowl, will be portraying a woman “in the public eye who’s ready to stop pretending she’s damned happy all the time.” Sounds like her character in “Happy Time” is taking a leaf out of “Frozen” Elsa’s book: “Let it go, can’t hold it back anymore… I don’t care what they’re going to say,” etc. Randi Barnes (“Girl Meets World,” “Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return”) will write and executive produce. DeGeneres is also producing Monica Potter’s new NBC show. The talk-show host seems keen to get more stories about female protagonists on air.
Another recently announced, female-centric show to look forward to is Hulu’s “Casual,” which has Michaela Watkins (“New Girl,” “Trophy Wife,” “Enlightened”) attached as its lead. According to The A.V. Club, Watkins is set to play Valerie Cole, “a newly divorced therapist with a 16-year-old daughter and a bachelor brother with whom they both live. She and her brother ‘coach each other through the crazy world of dating’ while Valerie ‘sheds her reservations and opens herself up to the joys and horrors of being newly single.’” Amazon has “Transparent” and Netflix has “Orange is the New Black,” so perhaps “Casual” will be Hulu’s breakout female-centric hit. Jason Reitman will executive produce and direct the first episode. A premiere date has yet to be revealed.
[via Deadline and The A.V. Club]