NBC Futuristic Pilot Casts First 2 Regulars

EXCLUSIVE: James Murray (Chaos) and Patrick Heusinger (Royal Pains) are set to co-star in the NBC drama pilot Beautiful People. The project, written by Michael McDonald, is set in the near future in a society where humans co-exist with mechanical androids that look like people but are treated like second-class citizens. It centers on the very wealthy Lydia whose late husband founded the firm that makes Mechanicals. Murray will play her son, a handsome and very successful attorney who’s lived a rich and privileged life but makes a name for himself by publicly suggesting that Mechanicals might have civil rights — a notion that’s largely scoffed at. Heusinger will play a family man employed as a servant in Lydia’s home who is in fact a Mechanical, but after one of his daughters is killed in a car accident, he proves to be “defective” as he’s plagued with forbidden emotions like grief and loss. The pilot,  co-produced by ABC Studios and Universal TV, will be directed by Stephen Hopkins.