Alyson Hannigan to Star in ABC Comedy From Kerry Washington

by Lesley Goldberg via The Hollywood Reporter on 3/1/18

'Man of the House' is a multicamera family comedy pilot, the network's 10th half-hour of the season.

Alyson Hannigan is plotting her primetime return.

The Buffy and How I Met Your Mother grad has been tapped to star in ABC's Man of the House, a multicamera/hybrid comedy exec produced by Scandal star Kerry Washington.

The pilot, which received a late-season order Thursday, revolves around two recently divorced sisters who decide to move in together to raise their kids under one roof. The oldest kid and only son is left to figure out what manhood means in a world where he’s now completely surrounded by females.

Hannigan will portray Jessie, a caring social-worker who was shocked when her husband left her. With nowhere else to turn, and against her better judgment, she moves her teenage football-star son and pre-teen daughter into the home of her narcissistic, ball-busting sister Charli and her even more-wicked daughter.

Frank Pines (Baby Daddy) and Vijal Patel (The Mayor, Black-ish) penned the script and exec produce alongside The Jackal Group's Gail Berman and Joe Earley, Washington and her ABC Studios-based Simpson Street banner with the company's Pilar Savone also on board.

Overall, this is ABC's 10th half-hour comedy pilot order (down one year-over-year) of the season and third mulitcamera (up one vs. last season). All told, ABC now has 23 comedy and drama pilots this season — off one from 2017.

For Hannigan, Man of the House marks her latest TV foray. She spent the summer hosting The CW's Penn & Teller's Fool Us. She last filmed TV Land/Paramount Network's First Wives Club reboot. Man of the House reunites Hannigan with Berman, who helped get Buffy on the air and exec produced the Joss Whedon cult hit. Hannigan is repped by APA and Joel McKuin.

For Washington, this is her first pilot order that stems from her overall deal with ABC Studios and comes as the Emmy-nominated actress is wrapping production on the network's seventh and final season of Shondaland-produced drama Scandal. On the producing side, her credits include HBO's Emmy-nominated Confirmation and Facebook Watch series Five Points. She's repped by CAA, Washington Square Arts and Gretchen Bruggeman Rush.

The Jackal Group is currently producing an Netflix unscripted series from organizational expert Marie Kondo and in development on multiple other scripted TV and film projects.

Pines is repped by CAA, Think Tank Management and Jackoway Tyerman. Patel is with APA and Bruce Gellman.