New comedy pilot for ABC
Now that In Plain Sight has ended Mary's next potential new show is a comedy pilot for ABC called "The Unprofessional."
shareI wish her all the best, but this premise sounds very standard to me. Every time I hear an actor enthused over a sitcom because of the family time these shooting schedules provide I kind of cringe. It's right to put family over career, but so often the result is another lame sitcom with predictable plotlines. A lot of good actresses spend years vamping on sitcoms before they have the time for really substantial parts again, and those aren't exactly thick on the ground, especially for women.
The money's good and I don't blame them, but I wish the TV biz had more to offer than this. I really don't look forward to seeing MM demoted from a great character like Mary Shannon to a former careerist suddenly perplexed as to why her kids don't carry out her instructions like her employees did. Can we at least avoid a line like, "I guess I can't fire my kids"?
UPDATE: Just read that this wasn't picked up and that was announced last May. Odd that IMDb still has a page for it. Here's hoping MM finds something worthy of her in the near future.