John Lithgow, Sherri Shepherd join NBC comedy pilot ‘The Trial’

Amazon might be working on a very serious Trial, but that’s not stopping NBC from making a funny one. The Peacock network is working on a pilot also called The Trial, although this is a comedy starring John Lithgow and Sherri Shepherd.

The two stars joined The Trial on Feb. 16. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Lithgow will star as Larry Henderson, a South Carolina professor accused of killing his wife. Shepherd is set to play receptionist Anne, who can’t recognize people by their faces and makes life hard on Larry’s legal defense team. The plot will find a big-city lawyer stuck representing Larry.

The Trial was created by Jeff Astrof and Matt Miller (Chuck) and will be directed by Jeff Blitz. It is a Warner Bros. TV production with Barge Productions and Good Session.

Lithgow is an NBC veteran, as he starred in 3rd Rock From The Sun. He’s also not the only NBC vet working on a pilot for the network, as Ted Danson is starring in Good Fortune.

Lithgow stars in Netflix’s The Crown and appeared on Dexter and How I Met Your Mother. The two-time Oscar nominee also starred in Interstellar in 2014.

While NBC is developing this, Amazon has the serious Trial with Billy Bob Thornton.