NBC has cast two of the male roles for the comedy pilot The Gates, including the lead role opposite Kathleen Rose Perkins. On board for the pilot are The Daily Show correspondent Aasif Mandvi and Party Down’s Ken Marino, who will be in the role of Perkins’ husband Mark.
The Gates is based on a British series of the same name and focuses on the drop-off and pick-up portion of the school day at the front gates of an elementary school, where parents, staff, and students all face a 15-minute social dance at the start and end of each school day. Perkins plays Helen, a strong-willed mother whose husband Mark is a puppy-dog type following at her heels. The couple have just moved to town along with their 8-year-old daughter so that Helen can pursue a new career opportunity. Mandvi is set to play a highly competitive and pushy Yale-educated lawyer whose expectations for his children are ridiculously high.
Ken Marino appeared in the short-lived series Party Down, which his currently being made into a movie. His other TV credits include Reaper and In The Motherhood, both of which were cancelled quickly. More recently he’s been appearing on Children’s Hospital. Aasif Mandavi is best known for his long-running correspondent gig on The Daily Show, but he also recurred on Jericho and has movie credits including The Last Airbender.
The Gates received an early pilot order back in December, Deadline notes, and is among the 11 comedy pilots the network has ordered so far this season.
