NBC’s single-camera comedy The Gates has recast two regular roles following Wednesday’s table read. Ally McBeal alum Greg Germann and Ben & Kate co-star Echo Kellum are joining the pilot, replacing Aasif Mandvi and Justin Chon, respectively. Germann was cast as a regular, while Kellum is a guest star. Based on the British series, The Gates is an adult ensemble comedy set at the front gates of an elementary school drop-off and revolves around the parents, school staff and 15-minute social minefield they navigate at the beginning and end of each school day. The show centers on type-A Helen (Kathleen Rose Perkins), who just moved to town with her husband Mark (Ken Marino) and their 8-year-old daughter for Helen’s big new job. Germann will play another dad at the school, a super-driven, competitive Yale-educated lawyer who’s one of these comedically intense guys who pushes his kids way too hard. Kellum will play a “manny”, who, even though he’s young, has seen it all at the school, and he serves as a buddy/confidant to Mark.
The Gates was written by Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith and is directed by Marc Buckland. Germann, repped by Innovative Artists and The Collective, recently recurred on Showtime’s House Of Lies. Ben & Kate has not been officially cancelled by Fox but last week it was pulled from the schedule and had its production shut down, so it is dead. All main cast members are already fielding pilot offers.
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