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EXCLUSIVE: In her first regular series gig since Murphy Brown, Lily Tomlin has been tapped for a lead role opposite Reba McEntire in ABC’s half-hour pilot Malibu Country. The project, from Reba showrunner Kevin Abbott, centers on Reba Gallagher (McEntire) who, after her “good ol boy” rock star husband cheats on her and burns through most of their money, divorces him and moves her family from Nashville to the only asset she has left — a little house in Malibu. There she’ll try to reignite her own singing career and keep herself and her three kids from being corrupted by the materialistic and rarefied Malibu world she now calls home.
Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated Tomlin will play Shirley, Reba’s classically Southern, warm and funny (not always intentionally) mother who joins the family in their move from Nashville to Malibu. Abbott and McEntire executive produce the pilot with Mindy Schultheis, Michael Hanel, Narvel Blackstock, Dave Stewart and Pam Williams. Tomlin has done two major broadcast series stints since Murphy Brown, recurring roles on ABC dramedy Desperate Housewives and NBC drama The West Wing. She most recently recurred on DirecTV’s Damages and Lisa Kudrow’s online/Showtime series Web Therapy.
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Lilly had a recurring role on Will and Grace for awhile, too.
Tomlin is notoriously picky about her material. I love Reba, but this is an odd, odd choice for her, though it’s certainly a huge “get” for the show.
and don’t forget her recurring role on WILL AND GRACE. She was absolutely hilarious.
2 episodes is not recurring. That’s a guest star twice over. 34 episodes, as with “The West Wing,” is, as is 6 episodes for “Desperate Housewives.”
Dammit. This just became worth watching if it gets picked up for series.
Lily Tomlin is playing Reba’s mother?! Did she give birth when she was six???
Try 15. Lily is 72.
This sounds like a great fit for ABC’s rumored TGIF relaunch, along with Last Man Standing and The Manzanis.
True, a great fit and and an even better reason to go out on Friday night. Snore.
The script is actually pretty terrific. I’d be shocked if it wasn’t picked up, esp with the route ABC seems to be going w/ their comedies. Like the previous commenter said, Tomlin is picky – this just proves how.
Go Pam and Dave ! What an amazing get!
This sounds an updated twist on The Beverly Hillbillies. I hope they can coax Jethrine Bodine out of retirement for a cameo.
FANTASTIC. I am not really one for sitcoms, but I LOVED the Reba script. Laughed out loud many times. This one should have no trouble getting picked up.
CW is about to see just how insane they were to cancel Reba’s comedy series.
I’m not paid to be a TV consultant, but here’s a word of advice: When you offer shows with stars that appeal to BROAD audiences with legions of fans (i.e. Reba), you bring NEW EYES and attention to your network. For instance, not many 45-year-olds are just “discovering” CW by chance. They need a reason to find the channel, visit and be exposed to promos for other shows advertised. That’s how you gradually build up an audience.
But you have to give strangers and non-viewers a REASON TO TUNE IN at least once. Reba did that back in ’06. And she’ll certainly do it now with ABC. Reba and Lily…comedy gold, man. I’d love to get ahold of the geniuses who killed the CW’s comedy dept. and thought it’d be a good idea to cancel Reba and Everwood.
Lily also appeared in some NCIS episodes which were very good.
Didn’t Lily also head the cast of Twelve Miles Of Bad Road which HBO cancelled before airing a single episode ?
Lily Tomlin actually had a series regular role on the HBO series “12 Miles of Bad Road”, which was an unfortunate victim of the WGA Strike and was shelved after several episodes were completed.
Hope to see Lily back on a weekly basis. Show looks promising.
Add Tomlin’s role in the Bernie Madoff-inspired season of “Damages” to the post “Murphy Brown” era.
Lily Tomlin is so great, she was phenomenal on Damages! This show is worth watching just for Lily, I love her!
Love Reba. And the casting of Lily Tomlin affirms how much potential ABC sees in the pilot script. If it’s true how selective Tomlin is, as some have asserted, that also speaks volumes as to the potential quality. Fingers crossed we get a weekly dose of Reba again!
I may have to give up on my boycott of ABC , I refuse to watch any new programing on ABC since they canceled my Soaps and Every time I get interested in a show they tend to cancel it after one season or less! And then they turned down the new Marc Cherry Show with Susan Lucci! Kudos to Lifetime for picking up on that one! Also starting to lose faith in Fox too!