For a Good Time, Call… actress Ari Graynor has landed a lead in a pilot at CBS. Based on the successful box office hit Bad Teacher, the pilot of the same name will follow a jilted wife who must set her sights on finding a new husband if she wants to maintain her socioeconomic status.
Graynor has signed on to play the lead role of Meredith Davis, which is based on the character Cameron Diaz portrayed in the film. According to EW, there will be some differences in CBS’ comedy pilot. First and foremost, Graynor will be playing a trophy wife and not a trophy fiancé. She signs on for a middle school teaching gig because she hears there are a lot of “rich single dads” at the school, although I’m sure finances must be considered, as well. I love the Graynor casting, and I'm secretly kind of hoping Nat Faxon will reprise his role from the movie. Now Ben and Kate is out, he should have plenty of time on his hands, but I’m sure CBS will want to differentiate from the movie.
Graynor has popped up often in comedies like For a Good Time, Call… and Celeste and Jesse Forever, but she’s no stranger to television. She started her acting career on The Sopranos and has more recently appeared on Fox’s Fringe. Between her experience with comedy and her comfort level with working on television, the actress sounds like a great fit for Bad Teacher. Besides, she couldn’t have a much better team around her with Hilary Winston writing the pilot and executive producing, alongside Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg. We’ll let you know if Bad Teacher moves forward to series at CBS.
