Steven Weber will 'Zip' it for NBC

Zap2it.com

Date published: 10/26/2007

NBC's comedy pilot "Zip" has found its leading man, and it didn't have to look too far.

Steven Weber, who has a long relationship with the network and most recently co-starred in "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," will star in the pilot. His casting lifts a contingency on the project and earns it an official green light, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

"Zip" was originally developed as part of NBC's pilot roster last spring--by then-producer Ben Silverman's company, Reveille--but the previous regime passed on it. After Silverman and development exec Teri Weinberg joined NBC in late May, they put the show back into development.

Weber will star as Trip Stringer, a single dad living in Beverly Hills. Low on money, he runs a series of cons to provide for his three kids.

Weber is taking over the lead role from Rob Huebel, who starred in the original version of the pilot.

CBS ORDERS MORE 'MOONLIGHT' SCRIPTS

CBS isn't necessarily ready to sink its teeth into a full season of the vampire drama "Moonlight," but the network is nibbling.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, CBS has ordered four addition scripts for "Moonlight," even though the freshman drama is the network's lowest rated Friday show and has now been trounced by ABC's "Women's Murder Club" on consecutive weeks.

The desire to see a pile of additional scripts may have less to do with the show's ratings to date and more to do with the series' difficult journey to the small screen in the first place (or, even more likely, by the looming possibility of a writers strike).

After picking up "Moonlight" based on a brief presentation, rather than a full pilot, CBS proceeded to ditch everything but the premise--a vampire works as a private investigator in Los Angeles--and leading man Alex O'Loughlin, bringing in new supporting players like Sophia Myles and Jason Dohring.

While early episodes were mostly trounced by critics, some fans have indicated qualitative improvements in subsequent episodes, even if the ratings have yet to blossom.

ABC POCKETS 'CHANGE'

"Old School" and "Starsky & Hutch" director Todd Phillips is taking on his first TV project, a comedy pilot at ABC.

Phillips and writer Allan Loeb have earned a green light from the network for a single-camera pilot called "The More Things Change ," which revolves around four male friends. They pitched the show over the past couple weeks and drew interest at several networks before striking a deal with ABC, the showbiz trade papers report.

The show will focus on the relationship between the four guys, all in their 30s but at different phases of their lives--one is a newlywed, one is struggling as a single guy and the like.

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Date published: 10/26/2007