Judy Greer has been cast as the female lead in “Reboot,” replacing “American Housewife” star Leslie Bibb, who was originally announced for the series about the tensions when a beloved sitcom is revived nearly 20 years after it was canceled.
20th Century Television announced Greer’s casting on Monday along with the news Hulu has ordered the Steven Levitan-created comedy to series.
Greer joins the previously announced cast, which includes Keegan-Michael Key as Reed Sterling, a fussy actor on the fictitious family multi-cam sitcom, “Step Right Up” who graduated from the Yale school of drama and resents the show for ruining his career, and Johnny Knoxville as Clay Barber, a foul-mouthed standup comedian whose only real acting job was on the upbeat series.
“My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” actress Rachel Bloom is Hannah, a sitcom writer with a “fresh take;” Calum Worthy of Hulu’s “The Act” is Zack, a movie star/hip-hop artist; and Krista Marie Yu of Fox’s “Last Man Standing” plays Elaine, a former tech exec.
Greer takes over the role of Bree Marie Larson, who is, according to the press release, “a small-town pageant girl who always dreamed of being an actress and a princess and both somehow came true.”
Series creator Levitan earned eight Emmys for writing, directing and producing ABC’s “Modern Family” as well as a Best Comedy Emmy in 1996 for producing NBC’s “Frasier.”
“Steve’s incredible track record speaks for itself. ‘Modern Family’ was brilliant and massively appealing, making millions upon millions of viewers laugh week-after-week and quickly becoming a global sensation,” said Hulu’s head of scripted content Jordan Helman in a statement shared with TheWrap. “We’re honored that Hulu will be home to Steve’s return to television with ‘Reboot’ and given our slate of successful comedies such as ‘Only Murders in the Building,’ ‘Pen15,’ ‘Ramy’ and more, we know our viewers will devour this hilariously meta satire.”
“Steve Levitan is a comedy genius and his idea for ‘Reboot’ is as hilarious as it is timely. We’re thrilled that our friends at Hulu love this sly, wildly funny look at the television comedy business as much as we do. And the spectacular cast Steve’s assembled speaks to both the quality of the writing and the appeal of this platform as a home for smart, high quality television. Everyone jumped at the chance to come on board,” added president of 20th Television Karey Burke.
“After working thirty years in TV comedy, this is both my love letter to sitcoms and, if I’m being honest, much-needed therapy,” quipped Levitan.
John Enbom, Danielle Stokdyk and Jeff Morton are also on board to executive produce.
Greer is repped by Artists First and CAA. The SAG-nominated actress recently starred in “Halloween Kills” and will next be seen in the Disney+ movie “Hollywood Stargirl” from director Julia Hart. She is currently filming HBO’s limited series “White House Plumbers” about the infamous break-in at Watergate Hotel that helped topple President Richard Nixon. She previously starred in the horror comedy “Good Dog,” part of Hulu’s “Into the Dark” film series.
Deadline first reported the news.