Jake Johnson is set to star in Dan Goor and Luke Del Tredici’s private investigator comedy pilot at NBC, Variety has learned.
In addition, Akiva Schaffer (“The Naked Gun,” “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping”) has boarded the pilot as director and executive producer.
Few plot details are available for the untitled single-camera show, with the logline simply stating the pilot “Continues the proud tradition of Los Angeles private eyes that began with Philip Marlowe and will end with this show.” It was picked up to pilot at NBC in January.
Johnson’s character is named Mickey. He is described as “Smart, cynical and heartbroken, but trying to pretend he’s not, Mickey is a private investigator with a knack for solving cases. Formerly an LAPD cop until his life imploded three years ago.”
Whether or not Johnson’s private eye character will be hard-boiled, soft-boiled, or even poached remains to be seen.
Johnson is best known for playing the curmudgeonly Nick Miller in the popular Fox sitcom “New Girl.” The show aired for seven seasons between 2011 and 2018. He has since starred in shows like the animated comedy “Hoops” at Netflix and the 1970s porn magazine comedy “Minx” at HBO Max/Starz. Next up, he has the series “Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed” at Apple TV. In film, Johnson is known for his work in the hit “Spider-Verse” animated film franchise as well as for features like “Let’s Be Cops,” “Jurassic World,” “Ride the Eagle,” and “Self Reliance.” He also wrote and produced the latter two films, with Johnson making his feature directorial debut with “Self Reliance.”
Johnson is repped by UTA and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.
Goor and Del Tredici are co-writing and executive producing the pilot. Schaffer will executive produce, with Johnson producing in addition to starring. Universal Television is the studio.
This is not the only pilot about a private investigator presently in the works at NBC. The Peacock network is also prepping a reboot of “The Rockford Files,” with David Boreanaz attached to play Jim Rockford.