Showtime Rolls Out New Pilot

LOS ANGELES, February 21:
Edie Falco, the Emmy Award-winning actress who starred in The Sopranos, has been tapped to play a New York City nurse in
a new half-hour dark comedy for Showtime.

The pilot, co-produced by
Showtime and Lionsgate Television, will go into preproduction immediately and
shooting will take place in New York. Falco will play a nurse with a special
calling who takes matters into her own hands to save lives in a New York City
hospital. The show will also feature a darkly comedic view of a health care
system gone awry.

The pilot was written by
Liz Brixius and Linda Wallem (The Comeback, That '70's Show) and Evan Dunsky. Wallem and Brixius are the
executive producers and show runners. Richie Jackson will serve as the
co-executive producer and Caryn Mandabach is also an executive producer.

"To be bringing Edie
Falco to Showtime is both a privilege and an honor," said Robert
Greenblatt, the president of entertainment for Showtime. "She sits firmly
in the pantheon of the great actresses of our day, and to have found a show and
a great role that meets her standards after six seasons of The Sopranos is our distinct pleasure and great fortune. Bada
bing is all I can think of to say!"

"The opportunity to
explore the human fallout from our broken medical system in this compelling
single-camera comedy for Showtime was an incredibly exciting proposition,"
commented Kevin Beggs, the president of production and programming for Lionsgate
Television. "That we will be
doing so with the peerless Edie Falco as our heroine elevated the opportunity
exponentially. It is our privilege to be working with Edie and the talented
creative team that will bring this to life."

—By Kristin
Brzoznowski