Paul Fitzgerald, Mary Catherine Garrison & Nico Tortorella Join Mike White’s ‘Mamma Dallas’ HBO Comedy Pilot

Paul Fitzgerald, Mary Catherine Garrison and Nico Tortorella (The Following) will co-star opposite Augustus Prew in Mamma Dallas, HBO’s comedy pilot by Enlightened creator Mike White, who also will have a role on the show. Written, directed and executive produced by White, the half-hour project follows a couple, Carrie Cox (Garrison) and Hugh Cox (Fitzgerald), who unwittingly hire a hard-living drag queen, Liberty (Prew), as their live-in nanny. Liberty appears to be an attractive woman with a flirty side — but she’s really a drag queen with an upbeat personality. On a path that leads to jail or prostitution or both, Liberty (also known as Albert) sees a future that will destroy his basically optimistic spirit and re-invents himself to get a job as a nanny to three children of a conservative Texan family.

With her decorating business taking off, perfectionistic Carrie needs a nanny to help with the kids, and it doesn’t occur to Carrie that she’s having a long talk about childrearing with a drag queen. Hugh is an earnest, successful man with political aspirations who is deathly afraid of any hint of scandal. Tortorella plays Liberty’s lowlife boyfriend Jesse, who runs a chop shop and steals high-priced sports cars with Liberty’s help. He’s horrified that his macho friends will find out he’s dating a guy. White plays Liberty’s roommate Tammy, a chain smoker who is always strung out and has no life ambitions.

White is executive producing the pilot with Dede Gardner.

Both Fitzgerald and Broadway actress Garrison had been on HBO’s radar. Fitzgerald, repped by SMS Talent and Leading Artists in NY, was recurring on the network’s Treme and recently did an arc on Boardwalk Empire and a guest shot on Veep. Garrison, repped by Innovative Artists, did an arc on Veep and a guest stint on HBO’s Flight Of The Conchords.

Tortorella, repped by LINK Entertainment and Gersh, also co-stars on Darren Star’s upcoming TV Land comedy series Younger.