Skylar Astin to play cool failed detective opposite mean lawyer mom Geena Davis in CBS drama pilot

What happens when a successful lawyer mom teams up with a son who is good at using the internet?

By Sam Barsanti  |  March 15, 2022 | 2:20am
Aux News Skylar Astin
Skylar Astin to play cool failed detective opposite mean lawyer mom Geena Davis in CBS drama pilot
Skylar Astin (Amy Sussman/Getty Images), Geena Davis (Amy Sussman/Getty Images) Image: The A.V. Club

A lot of people know how demoralizing it can be to try and make a name for yourself and fail, leaving you with no option left but to go home and team-up with your famous mother at her law firm. And if that sounds to you like an idea for a legal drama pilot, maybe one on a network that loves traditional TV drama formats like CBS, then congratulations: That’s exactly what it is.

According to Deadline, Skylar Astin—the new Greg on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and one of the stars of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist—is going to star in an untitled pilot project for CBS as a struggling private investigator whose career falls apart after “some messy misunderstandings.” With nowhere else to go, he joins his successful and “overbearing” mother’s law firm as her in-house investigator, with the two of them having to work together “despite their opposing personalities.” Oh, and Geena Davis is playing the mom. This is fun casting!

The best part about this pitch, though, may be Deadline’s account of Astin’s character, Todd:

He is the “problem child” of his family and a disappointment to his super-achieving mom. A former private detective, he lost his license after some messy misunderstandings. Quick on his feet—and a little too quick to resort to lying in order to get what he needs—Todd may be unorthodox, but he is impressively good at what he does. He’s also a master of tech, scrappy surveillance, and social media.

He is impressively good at social media! Hopefully there will be a scene where he’s like “Come on, mom. Just go on the plaintiff’s FaceSpace page and see what he posted on that day. It’ll prove he was lying.” Is this what CSI: Cyber was? It was a CBS show… maybe this will be a quiet reboot… maybe Astin’s Todd was on the Cyber team before he got fired for those “messy misunderstandings.”

Either way, at least we might finally have a TV show where a character knows how to use social media. That stuff is really catching on.

 
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