Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: On the heels of signing on for the lead in the NBC drama pilot I Am Victor, John Stamos has been tapped for a major recurring role on the upcoming third season of USA Network‘s Necessary Roughness. He will appear in all 10 episodes of the show starring Callie Thorne. The gig keeps Stamos in the NBCUniversal family. He has been recurring on freshman NBC comedy The New Normal and is prepping for the network’s I Am Victor pilot. He will segue from the pilot to Necessary Roughness on sibling USA, wrapping his gig in time to return to I Am Victor if it gets picked up to series.

Stamos’ character on Necessary Roughness Connor McClane is a departure from the good, likable  guys he usually plays. The founder of V3, a big global sports and entertainment management company, McClane sees Dr. Dani’s (Thorne) success with TK (Mehcad Brooks) and the New York Hawks, and is willing to do whatever it takes to get her into the V3 family. I hear USA went aggressively after Stamos and landing him for the role shows the network’s commitment to Necessary Roughness, which has not been among USA’s flashiest series despite doing solidly in the ratings. Stamos’ presence is sure to give the series extra attention going into Season 3.

Created and executive produced by Liz Kruger & Craig Shapiro and exec produced by Kevin Dowling, Necessary Roughness is co-produced by Sony Pictures TV and Universal Cable Prods. ER alum Stamos, repped by WME and Brillstein Entertainment, is coming off a Broadway run in The Best Man.

TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.