Tituss Burgess, Tommy Dewey & Siobhan Williams Join NBC Drama Pilot From Jenna Bans & Bill Krebs

EXCLUSIVE: Tituss Burgess, Tommy Dewey and Siobhan Williams have been cast in NBC‘s upcoming drama pilot from Good Girls creator Jenna Bans and executive producer Bill Krebs.

The pilot, which was previously titled Murder By the Book, stars Retta as Hazel, a big city Instafamous book reviewer who takes a page from the murder mystery books she reviews and becomes an unlikely detective to uncover the shocking truths about an eccentric seaside town.

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Burgess will play Andre, Hazel’s loveable, charming and directionless younger brother. For the time-being, he’s Hazel’s publicist/manager/hype-man because he’s been fired from every other job he’s ever had.

Dewey will play Pete, a cheerful homicide detective who somehow has a gorgeous second home overlooking the bay on a government salary. Williams joins as Lori, an employee at the bookstore who proves to be an invaluable, if sometimes off center, ally in Hazel’s hunt for Maggie’s killer.

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The untitled project, which landed a pilot order in January after receiving a put pilot commitment in September, comes from Bans’ Universal Television-based production banner Minnesota Logging Company. Krebs will pen the script with Bans.

The project also reteams Retta with Bans and Krebs after the actress previously starred in all four seasons of NBC’s crime comedy-drama Good Girls.

It hails from Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, under the Minnesota Logging Co. production banner. In addition to starring, Retta will serve as executive producer. Casey Kyber, Minnesota Logging Co.’s Head of Television, will also executive produce.

Bans has been under an overall deal at Universal TV since 2016. She was previously at ABC Studios where she created and executive produced the praised ABC drama series The Family starring Joan Allen. She previously served as co-executive producer on ABC’s Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy and also worked on Desperate Housewives and Private Practice.

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