More and more former film stars are flocking to TV by the year. The latest to make the transition is a female actress known for her curly locks and romantic comedies—especially the couple of movies she made with Tom Hanks in the nineties. That’s right, Meg Ryan is hoping to head to television, and to do so, the actress recently signed a development deal for a half-hour comedy over at NBC.
Ryan has actually stayed out of the limelight for the past several years. The last movie she made that was released was 2009’s Serious Moonlight and the last movie she made that most of us heard about was 2008’s The Women. Still, a move to television isn’t coming from out of nowhere. In 2009, the actress popped up in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, and after taking a bit of a hiatus from acting, Ryan spent 2013 portraying Karen Sharpe in Showtime’s acerbic comedy, Web Therapy.
The NBC project would follow Ryan as single mom with older, teenaged kids who is in the process of divorcing her husband. Following her big life change, the character will return to her job at a New York publishing house, only to find that she has been hired to work under Brenda, a 30-year-old woman who used to be Ryan’s character’s intern. Variety first reported the news, noting that Ryan’s character will end up overcomplicating things a lot during the comedy. Oh yeah, and a meddlesome mother-in-law will also be involved, proving that parents of adult children will continue to be a popular trend into the 2014-2015 season (see this year’s The Millers and Sean Saves the World).
The currently untitled project will be a single-camera comedy, despite the fact that NBC hasn’t had as much luck with single-camera comedies over the last couple of years. Miss Congeniality and Family Ties writer Marc Lawrence will pen the script and will nab an executive producing credit. Ryan’s manager, Jane Berlinger, and Ryan herself will also executive produce the project.
The last time Ryan actually starred in a TV series in a regular role was all the way back in 1985. The show was called Wildside and it lasted a whopping six episodes on ABC. Should NBC move forward with Ryan’s half-hour comedy, one would certainly hope this project would have a bit more success. This time around, Ryan’s already had her big break, and she’s a big enough name in the acting world to guarantee that people will pay attention as the untitled project moves forward in the development process, although it doesn’t guarantee a potential series any longevity. We’ll keep you posted if this one moves forward to pilot or series pick-up. In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for other film actors to make the transition to TV.
