During pilot season CBS agreed to air the new sitcom Mad Love, but by the time it shows up as a midseason replacement, they may not even recognize it. The show has gone through more than its fair share of the usual post-pilot casting shakeup, with Sarah Chalke stepping in to replace Minka Kelly in one major role, and now Judy Greer subbing for Lizzy Caplan in another. According to Deadline, Greer will play Connie, one of four friends living in New York City and "looking for love."
Caplan wasn't able to commit to the show for a series run, thanks to her job on Party Down (which may not be long for this world after all) and presumably various other job offers. Greer, on the other hand, seems to be best featured on network television, from the immortal "Say goodbye to these!" assistant Kitty on Arrested Development to a recent stint on How I Met Your Mother, another CBS comedy with obvious similarities to Mad Love.
One final odd note in the Deadline story mentions that Team Spitz, a high school-set sitcom not picked up in the initial round of pilots, may be getting an order from CBS after all. It's odd because the Team Spitz pilot starred Chalke, who is now committed to Mad Love and presumably will have to be replaced, even though she seemed to be a centerpiece of the Team Spitz pitch. Even though we'll never see the original pilots for these shows once they've been recast, it's always fun to think of the parallel universe version of shows you love that star completely different people.
