Image Credit: Michael Buckner/Getty Images
Although his show Partners was cancelled back in November, Michael Urie has found work on another comedy. EW has exclusively learned that Urie — who used to star as the beloved Marc St. James on ABC’s Ugly Betty — will guest star on the next season of TV Land’s hit Hot in Cleveland.
Image Credit: Matt Kennedy/CBS
ABC’s dramedy Ugly Betty was memorable for innumerable reasons, but one in particular stands out: Michael Urie. The actor played the ever-colorful and ever-bitchy fashionista Marc St. James, who stole scenes with a band of robbers including co-stars Becki Newton and Vanessa Williams. Although he won’t be with his old Betty cronies, Urie is returning to TV tonight at 8:30 p.m. in CBS’ sitcom Partners, playing one-half of a pair of friends — one gay, one straight.
EW recently caught up with the actor to talk about his return to TV, playing opposite (a former) Superman, and which old co-star he wants to play his mother.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Welcome back! Were you looking to get back into TV?
MICHAEL URIE: Not really. But when I read this part, I was like, Okay, this is a part I could get and I have to get. I have to hustle. I have to make this happen because it could be my only chance for a great leading role in a TV show.
Are you excited or nervous about doing a traditional sitcom?
I’m like a kid in a candy store, since Partners mixes everything that I love about television and theater. The difference between Partners and Ugly Betty is this awesome live audience, so in that respect, it’s like doing a play. The audience is ripe. But also, they’re honest. They won’t laugh if they don’t get the joke.
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CBS pilot verdicts are in: Four dramas, two comedies — including a Sherlock Holmes detective series and sitcom about working at Groupon. The network also picked up a reality show from Mark Burnett.
CBS has given a half-dozen scripted projects series orders for next season, starting with Elementary, a modern-day New York City-based drama series that’s sounded like a no-brainer for the network’s brand since it was first developed. Jonny Lee Miller plays Sherlock, Lucy Liu gives a feminine twist to Watson. Aidan Quinn co-stars.
The network’s most intriguing-sounding new drama is Vegas, a period piece set in the 1960s centered around the true story of Ralph Lamb: rodeo cowboy turned longtime sheriff of Las Vegas. On paper, this one seemed like a long shot given the way fellow recent ’60s-set dramas Pan Am and Playboy Club fared in the ratings. But if you’re going to dip into the past on CBS, you can’t get much safer than doing a Vegas-set crime drama — you could almost call it a CSI prequel. Plus the cast is great: Dennis Quaid is the sheriff, Michael Chiklis is a mob fixer, plus there’s Jason O’Mara and Carrie-Ann Moss. READ FULL STORY »
James Hibberd
@James_Hibberd
Lynette Rice
@EWLynette
