Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Actress-comedian Kristen Schaal is set as a lead opposite June Diane Raphael and Jenny Slate in ABC’s single-camera comedy pilot Pulling, from ABC Studios and Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment. The project, written by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky based on the British series and directed by Jason Moore, revolves around three dysfunctional women in their 30s — Donna (Raphael), Karen (Slate) and Louise (Schaal) — living their lives the way they want, even if society tells them they should have it all figured out by this point. Schaal replaces Mandy Moore, who was originally cast as Louise but recently exited the project. Interestingly, all three leads in the pilot are actresses/comedians/writers, matching the background of Sharon Horgan, co-creator/star of the original series (she played Donna) and an executive producer of the ABC version. (Horgan wrote and stars in another ABC comedy pilot, Bad Management.) Schaal, repped by UTA and Avalon, serves as Senior Women’s Correspondent for The Daily Show. She was a series regular on HBO’s Flight Of The Conchords, recurred on 30 Rock, voices a character on Fox’s Bob’s Burgers (also named Louise), and exec produces Amazon’s animated comedy pilot Supernatural.

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