Jane Lynch seems to be everywhere nowadays, and for the most part, she is. With her occasional presence on Criminal Minds and other comedies, game shows and commercials, along with the upcoming Wreck-It Ralph 2 film, Lynch manages to keep a full plate, and she's about to pile on some more! The multi-talented actress has signed on for an NBC comedy pilot that sounds right up her alley, Relatively Happy, and she's joining a ton of talented people for it.
Relatively Happy has Jane Lynch playing the role of Bobbi Martin, a dominant womanizing attorney who drinks well and lives a fast life. TV Line says Lynch will play support to a story that features her employee Henry (Jon Rudnitsky) who moves in with his sister Heather (Genevieve Angelson) after a devastating loss pulls them together. Lynch will play a mentor on screen and perhaps on set to Rudnitsky, who is fresh off leaving the cast of Saturday Night Live, as well as Angelson, who most recently was in the short-lived Amazon series Good Girls Revolt. The three have never collaborated before, but considering their past projects, this could be an awesome combination!
The pilot was written by Will & Grace co-creator Max Mutchnick and Trial & Error creator Jeff Astrof, who say the role of Bobbi was originally written for a man until they realized Lynch was perfect for the part. Considering her past roles, can we really disagree? Relatively Happy's Bobbi Martin sounds like a cross between Jane Lynch's Sue Sylvester in Glee and Paula in the 40-Year-Old Virgin.
In fact, most of Lynch's characters exude this outward confidence that makes her feel like she's that ego-forward boss that rarely hears no, and then doesn't accept it when she does. It's an acting persona she's really capitalized in her career and I can't think of any actress who does it better than her. Just the character description alone gives me a visual that thinks she's already knocked it out of the park, even though she likely hasn't filmed anything yet.
Relatively Happy will be the first feature sitcom role Jane Lynch has had on network television since the cancellation of her CBS series Angel From Hell. The series lasted 13 episodes before being axed. Of course, many remember that Glee was her last successful stint on network television where she played the always menacing Sue Sylvester. While it's not a sitcom, Lynch is currently serving as the host for NBC's Hollywood Game Night, a game show which has celebrities compete in party games with contestants. Hosts have to be bossy too, right?
As of now, there's nothing in the cards for Relatively Happy other than an NBC pilot, but we'll keep you posted if that changes. We're well into the final leg of some of our favorite fall series, and while there's plenty to be enjoyed on our midseason premiere guide you might also want to look ahead to our summer premiere guide and see what's in store for you when the weather warms up.
