Rules of Engagement is on its seventh season, and it could very well go on to an eighth. But if it doesn't, we may still find Patrick Warburton in a starring role on a CBS sitcom, assuming things go well for the pilot CBS just picked up, which will star Warburton.
EW reports that CBS has ordered a comedy pilot starring Warburton as "a beloved, recently retired baseball player who finds that adjusting to retirement isn't as easy as he thought it'd be." The multi-camera comedy comes from Greg Malins and Doug Robinson. Though EW doesn't specify outright, their wording in their article ("In case Rules of Engagement doesn’t go the distance, star Patrick Warburton already has a potential job lined up.") implies that this pilot is in second position to Rules of Engagement.
In addition to playing Jeff on the current CBS comedy, Warburton's credits include Movie 43, Ted, and one of my personal favorites, Big Trouble. He's also well known for playing the role of Puddy in Seinfeld. And that's not to mention his voice roles (The Tick, Family Guy, Archer). He's a funny guy, and it sounds like the lead in this pilot is a great fit for him. Should things not work out for Rules of Engagement, it's good to know there's a chance Warburton could be sticking around the small screen next season.
In other CBS pilot news, the network has also ordered two other comedy pilots, one of which is a single-camera comedy based on an Israeli series, which follows a married mother who's trying to balance family, life and work. That one comes from Julie Rottenberg and Elisa Zuritsky. The other is a multi-camera comedy that follows "a recently widowed father raises his 12-year old son while jumping back into the dating pool." That one's from Tad Quill, whose executive-producing credits include Bent, Perfect Couples and Scrubs. We'll have to wait and see how these projects do as spring approaches.
