Only 5 months after leaving his 9 year stint on Law & Order, Jesse L. Martin is returning to NBC for the new series The Philanthropist. If all goes as planned, Martin will be co-starring along side James Purefoy (Rome) in the mid-season drama.
The show will center on the character Teddy Rist (Purefoy) who, according to THR, is a "renegade billionaire who uses his wealth, connections and power to help people in need around the world." Martin will play the role of Rist's buddy and business partner.
Martin will also be appearing in NBC's holiday special "Letters to Santa - A Muppets Christmas."
This could be fantastic. Jesse L Martin and James Purefoy would be enough to meke me try it on their own. But I just read that Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson are writing and producing, which makes it really exciting. They did Homicide and Oz together. Thanks for the news!
Oops, the Fontana part of the equation was old news. Seems NBC thought his version was too dark and they split on "creative differences". Now, David Eick is EP. That could still be really good... he did Battlestar Galactica and American Gothic but also Bionic Woman (from last year) so I guess it could go either way.