How awesome does this sound: Sean Faris on a dude ranch with Gilmore Girls mastermind Amy Sherman-Palladino feeding him quirky dialogue? It’s happening, folks. The Parma native is the first male to score a lead role in one of The CW’s new series pilots. The Wyoming Project might be described as Party of Five on the Prairie—and there’s nothing wrong with that. Sean will play a 22-year-old horse trainer who becomes patriarch of the ranch when his parents are killed, leaving him suddenly responsible for his three younger sisters. As he again demonstrated in his recent three episodes as “Ben” on The Vampire Diaries, Sean is an actor who owns the small screen; while Amy is considered one of television’s premier writers. For Northeast Ohioans, this creative pairing elevates the family drama from “flying under the radar” to “much-anticipated.” Another film star is being recruited to head the network’s Nikita reboot. The pending hire of Maggie Q (MI:3, Live Free or Die Hard) “signifies the highest-profile role for an Asian actress on a broadcast drama series,” reports THR. James Frain (The Tudors, True Blood) is in rumored negotiations to join the Nikita cast, says KSiteTV. The CW has also ordered a pilot presentation from Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator) and David Zucker (Numb3rs, The Good Wife). Nomads centers on a group of nearly-broke young backpackers traveling the world—who agree to take on lucrative secret missions for the CIA. With TV’s annual Upfront announcements only 12 weeks away, all series pilots must be staffed, filmed, edited and evaluated for a spot in the Fall lineup. There’s a lot of work just ahead, and these fresh ideas and stars are only the beginning.
