Fox’s single-camera comedy pilot Fatrick is lining up some familiar faces for its cast. Desperate Housewives’s Marcia Cross and Don’t Trust The B—— In Apartment 23’s Ray Ford have signed on for the comedy, which centers on a 30-something guy who was overweight growing up and now realizing that the damage that caused him emotionally is still affecting him.
Deadline posted the latest casting news for the project, which comes from Don’t Trust The B creator Nahnatchka Khan and co-executive producer Corey Nickerson and will be directed by Oscar winners Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (Community). The comedy will jump between the past and the present to look at the state of Patrick’s — a.k.a “Fatrick” — life then and now.
Marcia Cross will play Patrick’s mother Arlene in both the past and present of the story. She’s described as “a fit, energetic nutritionist” who’s “rigid and intense when it comes to the family’s eating habits.” Is it wrong that I’m already picturing Patrick as a kid, sneaking off to enjoy a packet of razzles away from the watchful eye of his health-enthusiast mother. Either way, it sounds like food had a big presence in Patrick's life growing up. Cross, who played the picture-perfect (on the outside anyway) Bree in Desperate Housewives sounds like a perfect fit for this part, and considering we haven’t seen much of her since the ABC dramedy wrapped up, it’ll be great to see her back on the small screen, assuming Fatrick makes it beyond the pilot stage.
Prior to Desperate Housewives, Cross’ credits are mainly drama-focused, with roles in Everwood and of course, the part of Kimberly Shaw in Melrose Place, but she’s dabbled in comedy before, with guest spots in Seinfeld, Boy Meets World and Spin City. And given the humorous tone of Desperate Housewives, it’s really not difficult to picture her in a half-hour comedy, especially when factoring in the nature of this role, which sounds like it could be a great fit for her — no pun intended.
Meanwhile, Ray Ford has signed on to play Patrick’s longtime best friend Maurice. As Deadline puts it, Maurice is the only one who knows “both Patricks,” — presumably excluding his mother? — and is now his therapist. Playing “young Maurice” is 30 Rock’s Dante Hoagland.
In addition to playing Luther Wilson in ABC’s unfortunately short-lived comedy Don’t Trust The B—— In Apartment 23, Ford’s credits include the pilot episode of Touch, an episode of Switched at Birth and the recurring part of “Ray the Paramedic” in Grey’s Anatomy, though his last appearance in the ABC drama was in 2011.
