Pilot Casting – Prison Break’s Haywire is Grimm, Lovelives for Veronica Mars’ Ryan Hansen

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As a bonafide TV addict, pilot season and upfronts is like Christmas to me. It’s what I imagine sports fans feel like during draft season. Getting attached to a pilot and waiting to see if it will be picked up is a nailbiting experience.

One of the pilots I’m most interested in is NBC’s Grimm, which just signed Prison Break‘s Silas Weir Mitchell. Mitchell will play Eddie Monroe, a former Big Bad Wolf who uses diet and pilates to control his killer instincts. Grimm, created by David Greenwalt (Angel) and Jim Kouf, is described as a cop drama where the creatures and monsters found in Grimm’s Fairy Tales exist for real. Protagonist Nick Burckhardt (David Giuntoli, Privileged) is a detective who discovers the truth about this hidden world and that he’s destined to protect humans from it.

I’m not as intrigued by Lovelives, another pilot in NBC’s ambitious development slate, but Ryan Hansen’s addition to the cast is promising. The underrated Hansen, who previously starred on Veronica Mars and Party Down, will be starring as Tim, a literature professor. Hansen is usually cast as dim bulb characters so seeing him play an intelligent, educated character will be interesting.

Lovelives is a single camera comedy about a couple, Tim and Holly, and their messy relationship. Hansen already has a midseason NBC comedy, Friends With Benefits, waiting for a premiere date. However, rumors are that show will see a summer burnoff, leaving Hansen free for Lovelives should it get picked up.