Kerry Washington and Delroy Lindo have been cast to star in and executive produce the comedy series Unprisoned for Hulu via Disney’s Oynx Collective.
Inspired by the life of Tracy McMillan, Unprisoned is a half-hour about “a messy but perfectionist relationship therapist and single mom whose life is turned right-side-up when her dad gets out of prison and moves in with her and her teenage son.”
Washington (Scandal) plays Paige Alexander, a marriage and family therapist and mom to 16-year-old Finn. Lindo (The Good Fight) will play Edwin Alexander, Paige’s father who was recently released from prison.
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The series will be available in the U.S. on Hulu, the streaming home of Onyx fare, Star+ in Latin America and Disney+ in all other territories. ABC Signature is the studio.
The actress will executive produce along with Pilar Savone through their Simpson Street production company. Simpson Street is currently producing Onyx’s legal drama Reasonable Doubt from ABC Signature. Lindo will also exec produce the comedy.
McMillan, who also hosts the relationship show Family or Fiance on Warner Bros. Discovery’s OWN, exec produces Unprisoned alongside Yvette Lee Bowser, who also serves as showrunner via her overall deal with ABC Signature. Joy Gorman Wettels (13 Reasons Why) and Jen Braeden (Hulu’s Love, Victor) also are credited as EPs.
“This isn’t just my story,” said McMillan in a statement. “It’s the story of millions of people dealing with the effects of mass incarceration on their families, hearts, minds and bodies … and as writers, we wanted to come to these flawed but super-lovable characters from the place of empathy, humor and soul that they deserve.”
Unprisoned is the latest series pickup for Onyx and Freeform president Duncan and joins the Washington/Simpson Street-produced drama Reasonable Doubt. That series also hails from ABC Signature, the Disney studio where Washington has remained in business since Scandal became a mega-hit for network sibling ABC. The legal drama was Onyx’s first series pickup since its launch last year.
Other Onyx originals, again all slated for Hulu, include the Oscar-winning doc Summer of Soul, the Oprah Winfrey-produced The Hair Tales and Mahershala Ali limited series The Plot.