Thorne-Smith, Carroll
receive pilot licenses
By Nellie Andreeva
Courtney Thorne-Smith, Rocky Carroll, Will Patton and Joshua Leonard are set for network pilots.
Carroll, who stars in the CBS comedy "Welcome to New York," is moving from the Big Apple to Washington for "The Agency." Patton ("Remember the Titans") also has been cast in the CBS drama.
Thorne-Smith, who left Fox's "Ally McBeal" at the end of last season, is returning to series television as the female lead in the untitled Jim Belushi half-hour pilot at ABC.
Leonard ("The Blair Witch Project") is making his TV debut with the untitled one-hour John Herzfeld pilot for CBS, where he has been cast as one of the leads.
In "Agency," a drama about the inner workings of the CIA from Wolfgang Petersen and Gail Katz's Radiant Prods. and CBS Prods., Carroll will play the special assistant to the head of the CIA (Ronny Cox).
Patton's character is an intelligence officer who is expert at analysis and research. Gil Bellows also has been cast in the project executive produced by Petersen, Katz and Michael Frost Beckner.
Even though CBS has not canceled "New York," Carroll's deal on "Agency" doesn't have it in second position to the Christine Baranski-starring series -- an indication that the freshman show is not likely to come back next season.
Carroll is best known for his role as chief trauma surgeon on CBS' medical drama "Chicago Hope." His TV series credits also include the early '90s Fox sitcom "Roc."
On the big screen, he was recently seen in the Tim Meadows starrer "The Ladies Man." He is managed by Shelley Browning of Starstruck Films.
Patton's feature credits include "Gone in 60 Seconds," "Entrapment" and "Armageddon." He started his career on the small screen, spending a season on the soap "Ryan's Hope."
Thorne-Smith will play Belushi's wife in the Touchstone Television sitcom about a family with three kids living in a Chicago suburb. She has reportedly wanted to do a half-hour comedy since she left "Ally."
Thorne-Smith also is known for her five-year stint on "Melrose Place." She also spent a season on the NBC legal drama "L.A. Law." She is repped by Paradigm.
Leonard will play a taxi driver in the ensemble John Herzfeld project produced by Big Ticket and CBS Prods.
Brad Johnson ("Courthouse") and Bitty Schram ("One Fine Day") also have been cast.
Leonard has had guest-star appearances on "The Drew Carey Show" and "The Outer Limits." On the big screen, he will next star in the indie comedy "Larceny."
Leonard, who was recently seen in "Men of Honor" and "Crimes Past," is repped by ICM's Nikki Joel and Evan Tripoli and Untitled Entertainment.
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