Portland-filmed NBC comedy pilot adds Jana Schmieding, Rachel Dratch, Wes Studi, more to cast

Variety reports

that an NBC comedy pilot that was

scheduled to film in Portland in late May

will star

Jana Schmieding, who grew up in Canby;

former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Rachel Dratch; veteran actor Wes Studi; and Bobby Wilson.

As

The Oregonian/OregonLive reported,

a note from the producers explained that the project “was created by an incredible team of Native talent. The pilot is written by Sierra Teller Ornelas (Navajo), Bobby Wilson (Sisseton-Wahpeton), and Jackie Keliiaa (Washoe/Yerrington Paiute), and directed by Tazbah Rose Chavez (Bishop Paiute/Navajo/San Carlos Apache). The setting we’re trying to create is the welcoming, culturally rich, and fictional All Nations Community Center set in Oakland, California.“

The pilot is written by Sierra Teller Ornelas, Jackie Keliiaa, and Wilson, who are all executive producers. Teller Ornelas also serves as showrunner.

The project reunites members of the creative team who were earlier involved in the Peacock comedy,

“Rutherford Falls,”

including Teller Ornelas, who co-created the series; Schmieding, who starred; and Wilson, who was both a writer and cast member.

According to Variety, Schmieding’s character in the pilot is Josie Two-Shoes, “an educated go-getter” who “recently became the director of the community center and wants to make her mark.”

Wilson plays Bobby Renville, a character who was “basically raised by the center,” and “loves to stir the pot.”

Studi stars as a character named Frank Henry Jr., “a lovable, yet blunt elder who runs all the support programs at the center.”

Dratch’s character, Cheryl, is described as “the community center’s groovy and delightfully weird support staff.”

There’s been no announcement yet about whether the pilot will be picked up by NBC as a series.

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