Terry Crews is heading back to comedic television, as Variety has reported that the multi-talented actor is slated to star in the upcoming CBS comedy pilot JumpStart, which he will also executive produce. The pilot will be based on the long-running comic strip of the same name by Robb Armstrong.
According to the show's logline from CBS, JumpStart will follow "Joe (Crews), a cop, his wife Marcy, a nurse, and Joe’s partner Crunchy. Joe and Marcy are young, hip, urban parents with old school values who are willing to sacrifice for their kids and have some laughs while doing it!” The network additionally describes Crews' character as "a devoted husband, son, father and Philadelphia police officer. He is also a proud Black man and often feels pressured to be flawless in each of his roles, especially in light of controversies surrounding cops. He is a charming and exuberant role model in his community. Joe loves his wife and family, but does come up short in hilarious and endearing ways that keep audiences cheering for him.” Armstrong's comic strip was first penned in 1989, and there have been previous attempts to adapt JumpStart for television, with 20th Century Fox working on a pilot as far back as 2014. However, that never came to fruition, and CBS announced it was developing its own adaptation in June 2022.
The JumpStart pilot will be directed by Phill Lewis off a script from Wayne Conley, who adapted the series for television and serves as an additional executive producer. The project will be produced by CBS Studios, and also executive produced by Kapital Entertainment's Aaron Kaplan and Melanie Frankel, Wendi Trilling of TrillTV, Bridget McMeel of Andrews McMeel Entertainment, and Armstrong. McMeel serves as Armstrong's producer, and was the one who originally shopped JumpStart around Hollywood. She is also attached to produce a number of other comic strip-related projects, including the upcoming Garfield animated film starring Chris Pratt.
Crews, known for his wide range of comedic projects, is no stranger to potraying a police officer. He endeared himself to fans as Sgt. Terry Jeffords on NBC's hit police comedy Brooklyn 99, which ran for eight seasons. He is also known for his film roles in cult classics such as White Chicks, Friday After Next, Idiocracy, and Sorry to Bother You, and was also seen in the first three Expendables films. Crews' additional television work includes hosting the NBC competition series America's Got Talent and its spinoffs, and he also starred in the sitcoms Are We There Yet? and Everybody Hates Chris. More recently, he appeared in the AMC spinoff Tales of the Walking Dead and had a small role in Deadpool 2.
No release window for the JumpStart pilot has been announced.