Chrissy Metz To Headline & EP ‘Help Me Rhonda’ PI Drama In Works At NBCU From James Patterson & ‘Life Sentence’ Creators

EXCLUSIVE: For her followup to This Is Us, Chrissy Metz has chosen another drama with siblings at the center. The This Is Us alumna is set to star in and executive produce Help Me Rhonda, which has landed a script plus penalty commitment at NBCUniversal.

Based on the best-selling novel 2 Sisters Detective Agency by James Patterson and Candice Fox, Help Me Rhonda comes from Life Sentence creators Erin Cardillo and Richard Keith, James Patterson Entertainment, Nina Tassler and Denise Di Novi’s PatMa Productions, Cathy Konrad’s Tree Line Film and Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.

More from Deadline

• Mandy Moore To Headline & EP ‘Twin Flames’ Series In Works At Hulu With ‘This Is Us’ Co-Showrunners As She Re-Ups Pod Deal With 20th Television

• 2024 Premiere Dates For New & Returning Series On Broadcast, Cable & Streaming

• 2024 Awards Season Calendar - Dates For Oscars, Guilds, Tonys & More

Written by Cardillo and Keith, Help Me Rhonda centers on Rhonda Bird (Metz), a brash public defender, and Barbra Ann “Baby” Bird, the privileged teenage sister she never knew she had, who reluctantly take over their late father’s private detective agency. While helping their father’s former clients, they uncover the truth about who their father really was.

Metz, Cardillo and Keith executive produce alongside Patterson, Bill Robinson, and Patrick Santa through James Patterson Entertainment, Tassler and Di Novi through PatMa Productions, Cathy Konrad through Tree Line Film, Lena Roklin from Luber Roklin as well as Margaret French Isaac who collaborates with PatMa and originally brought the book to Metz and Roklin.

As has been common practice over the past couple of years, Help Me Rhonda is being developed by NBCU’s consolidated entertainment content division before a decision is made whether the potential series would go to NBC, where This Is Us aired, on streamer Peacock.

For her role as Kate Pearson on This Is Us, which ran for six seasons, Metz earned an Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations. She recently starred in the indie film Stay Awake. Her memoir, This Is Me, debuted at #1 on The New York Times’ Bestseller list. She is repped by CAA, Luber Roklin, and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller.

Metz is the latest This Is Us star to headline their own series project as a followup to the acclaimed NBC family drama. Milo Ventimiglia stars in ABC’s upcoming drama series The Company You Keep. Justin Hartley has CBS drama pilot The Never Game. Chris Sullivan, who played Metz’s onscreen husband on This Is Us, toplined ABC’s comedy pilot The Son In Law this past season. And Mandy Moore stars in Twin Flames, a series in development at Hulu which, like Help Me Rhonda, is based on a book.

Cardillo and Keith, creators of Life Sentence and Significant Mother, are currently working on the fifth season of Netflix’s hit Virgin River. They are also developing a series for NBC titled This Beautiful Life. Cardillo is repped by CAA and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson, and Christopher. Keith is repped by CAA and Lichter, Grossman, Nichols.

James Patterson Entertainment is repped by CAA and Lichter, Grossman, Nichols.

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.