Nellie Andreeva

Judy_GreerEXCLUSIVE: Judy Greer has signed on to star in the CBS comedy Mad Love. With her and recent addition Sarah Chalke on board, the pilot’s 13-episode midseason order has now been finalized. CBS had been working on a pickup deal with producing studios Sony TV and CBS Studios for the past month, but it was contingent on locking in the cast. Greer replaces Lizzy Caplan who played the role in the pilot as a guest star but couldn’t commit beyond that.

Mad Love is an ensemble comedy about four friends in New York – Henry (Jason Biggs), Kate (Chalke), Larry (Tyler Labine) and Connie (Greer) – who are looking for love. Greer, repped by CAA and Principato Young, was an early favorite for the Connie role, but I hear it went down to the wire in a completive situation with ABC’s Desperate Housewives, which also was pursuing the Miss Guided star. The casting of Greer and Chalke, who recently replaced the pilot’s Minka Kelly, marks the second round of recastings on Mad Love, which replaced Dan Fogler with Labine and Ashley Austin Morris with Caplan just before the pilot was shot.

Mad Love, executive produced by creator Matt Tarses and Jamie Tarses, is one of two series on tap for midseason at CBS, along with the Criminal Minds spinoff. Additionally, the network and 20th TV continue to haggle over terms for a midseason order to drama Chaos. And I hear another comedy pilot, Team Spitz, looks promising to get an order for a new pilot.

TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.