Patrick Dempsey to star in pilot for CBS political drama ‘Ways and Means’
Patrick Dempsey is set to star in the pilot for a new TV show as a member of Congress secretly working with another across the aisle.
The former “Grey’s Anatomy” actor — who starred as Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd — is poised to take on the lead in CBS’s still-in-the-works series “Ways and Means.”
The news was first reported by Deadline on Tuesday.
Dempsey will take on the role of a powerful lawmaker who’s become disillusioned by congressional gridlock. The fictional House member then starts to secretly work hand-in-hand with a congresswoman from the opposing party so the pair can push through legislation and “save American politics … if they don’t get caught” — cue the powerful, patriotic music.
Mike Murphy, a longtime Republican strategist, penned the script for the show’s pilot, he confirmed to ITK. The GOP operative will serve as the show’s executive producer, alongside “Without a Trace” producer Ed Redlich.
Broadcast networks typically announce which of their pilots get picked up for a full season in May.
Dempsey is no stranger to the real-life Capitol Hill. Last March, he was eyed alongside Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) making his way through the halls of the Capitol.
Just a few months later, the 54-year-old entertainer was back in Washington posing next to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the pair was honored at the Library of Congress for their work fighting cancer.
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