‘Work Wife’: Angelique Cabral & Tone Bell Star, Kelly Ripa Recurs In ABC Pilot Inspired By Ripa & Ryan Seacrest

Nellie Andreeva
·6 min read

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ABC has assembled the cast of Work Wife, a single-camera comedy inspired by the real-life partnerships of longtime friends and Live with Kelly & Ryan co-hosts Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest, and David Windsor and Casey Johnson, the longtime writing-producing team and The Real O’Neals co-creators.

Angelique Cabral (Life In Pieces) and Tone Bell (Fam) will play the two central characters, with Christopher Gorham, Annapurna Sriram, Matt Shively and Maile Flanagan also starring and Ripa playing a recurring role in the pilot, from Seacrest’s Ryan Seacrest Productions, Ripa and Mark Consuelos’ Milojo Productions and ABC Studios, where both Ryan Seacrest Prods and Milojo Prods are based.

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Ripa previously juggled her Live talk show and a primetime series when she starred on ABC’s Hope & Faith.

Written by Windsor and Johnson and directed by Todd Holland, Work Wife tells the story of a platonic male-female team whose professional success, personal friendship and ability to share deodorant makes their lives work. Set in the world of real estate, Dani (Cabral) and Scott (Bell) have taken the leap to start their own team. Now feeling the stress of being the boss, they have to rely on the yin-yang of their dynamic more than ever to keep their professional and personal lives afloat.

Ripa plays Bobbi Gold Dani and Scott’s former boss and current nemesis. Bobbi is the queen of Cincinnati real estate. She’s larger than life, takes no prisoners and lives by her motto “Go For The Gold.”

Windsor and Johnson executive produce with Holland, along with Ripa, Consuelos and Albert Bianchini for Milojo Productions and Seacrest, Nina Wass and Andrea Shay for Ryan Seacrest Productions. Michael Halpern is director of development for Milojo. ABC Studios is the studio.

Cabral’s Dani is the co-owner of a small real estate company in Cincinnati, Ohio with her longtime business partner and best friend Scott (Bell). They’re new bosses, making it up as they go along and not always getting it right. Dani is also a wife and the mother of two kids (10 and 6) and the breadwinner of her family. She’s smart, driven, and a bit of a tornado as she tries to balance all the demands of her busy life. Sometimes all the pressure can cause her to comically take it out on her adversaries, but she’s fiercely loyal and has the ability to make co-workers feel like family.

Bell’s Scott is handsome, single and charming. He is the “fun boss” to Dani’s “boss boss.” Since his personal responsibilities are few, Scott has time to have a great lifestyle – like taking girlfriends to Mexico for the weekend and curating his office with the latest design elements. Even though he loves his life, underneath he longs for what Dani has – a loving relationship, kids and a place to call home. As long as they aren’t messy.

Gorham plays Alex, Dani’s husband and stay-at-home dad to their two kids. Alex is comfortable in his role of at-home parent, but his more traditional family doesn’t totally get it. Alex and Scott are close friends – working out together, dreaming of opening a brewery together. Dani likes how close the two men in her life are, as long as they don’t talk about her when she’s not around. Alex is sometimes jealous of Scott’s freedom and fabulous life but wouldn’t trade his wife and kids for the world.

Sriram plays Rebecca is a young agent in the real estate office who has a win at all costs mentality. She’s a first generation American who feels pressure from her parents to succeed. She’s so focused on her career that she has not had many life experiences or boyfriends, even though they keep pursuing her. Over the course of the series, Rebecca is going to learn how to loosen her grip ever so slightly and attempt to have relationships with other human beings.

Shively plays Travis, Dani’s cousin and de facto head of marketing. Travis is the opposite of Rebecca. He’s friendly and open to everyone, but isn’t sure what he wants to do with his life. He isn’t even sure he wants to have this job, even though he likes the people he works with, especially Rebecca. He has a huge unrequited crush on her that Joy tries to talk him out of. While Travis is a bit of a screw up, his energy makes him a delight to have around.

Flanagan plays Joy, the administrative assistant at Dani and Scott’s real estate office. Joy is very sweet on the outside, but has a dark side lurking underneath. She’s recently gone through a divorce and is restarting her life. She reads a ton of self-help books and is great at giving out advice even if she can’t take it herself. Joy’s a valued team member because of her enthusiasm, although sometimes she struggles setting and respecting boundaries.

Known for the role as Colleen on the CBS’ comedy series Life In Pieces, Cabral currently co-stars in the animated series Undone on Amazon, and recurs on Grace and Frankie on Netflix. She is repped by APA, manager Karen Forman, and attorney Derek Kroeger at Myman Greenspan.

Bell’s series include Fam and 9JKL on CBS as well as American Soul on BET and the CW’s The Flash. He is repped by CAA, Black Box Management and attorney Robby Koch.

Gorham’s credits include two seasons on Netflix’s dramedy Insatiable and five seasons of USA Network’s Covert Affairs. He is repped by Thruline, CAA, and Goodman Genow.

Sriram ’s credits include Bonding, Feral and Billions. She’s repped by Buchwald and Mosaic. Shively co-starred in ABC’s The Real O’Neals, working with Windsor & Johnson and Holland. Most recently, he did a large recurring role in the second season of USA’s The Purge.. He is wrapping a multi-episode arc on ABC’s American Housewife. He is repped by Gersh, RKM, and Felker Toczek. Flanagan’s credits include recurring roles on Lab Rats and Shameless. She’s repped by BRS/Gage Talent Agency and Milgrom Management. Ripa is repped by CAA and Untitled Entertainment.

 

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