Nellie Andreeva

Three high-profile pilots just landed their leads: Martin Henderson will headline NBC’s drama The Crossing, Sarah Paulson will star in NBC’s Kari Lizer comedy and Lauren Ambrose will topline Fox’s drama Weekends at Bellevue.

Written by Josh Brand and directed by Peter Horton, The Crossing is set in a Missouri town during the post-Civil War Reconstruction era and centers on Jason (Henderson), a Civil War soldier who crosses the country and settles into a complicated town where he is welcomed as its savior – whether he likes it or not. The casting is in second position to Henderson’s current series, ABC’s softly-rated midseason drama Off the Map. The Crossing’s female lead is Henderson’s Off the Map co-star Rachelle Lefevre who is also in second position to the ABC medical drama, so NBC is making a big gamble that Off the Map won’t come back for a second season.

The untitled Kari Lizer multicamera comedy, from Warner Bros. TV, is a workplace comedy about a relationship-challenged woman (Paulson) who, with the help of her co-workers, guides people through unexpected career transitions and downsizings. The casting of Paulson lifts the contingency on the project. ICM-repped Paulson was the female lead on NBC’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and ABC’s Cupid. Martha Marcy May Marlene, in which she stars, was recently picked up by Fox Searchlight. Lizer is with Scott Schwartz.

Based on Dr. Julie Holland’s memoir, Weekends at Bellevue centers on Ellie (Ambrose), the psychiatrist in charge of the weekend shift of Bellevue Hospital psychiatric unit. The project hails from former ER writer-producer Lisa Zwerling, BermanBraun and UMS. Six Feet Under alum Ambrose, repped by UTA and Kipperman Management, co-stars on the upcoming season of Torchwood on Starz.

TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.