(CNN) — NBC has made Katherine Heigl’s return to TV official.
The 35-year-old actress will star in the network’s newly announced series “State of Affairs,” about a CIA analyst (Heigl) who advises the president on high-risk global affairs while also balancing her own complicated personal life.
Alfre Woodard plays the president, whose son was engaged to Heigl’s character, Charleston “Charlie” Tucker, prior to being killed in a terrorist attack.
This will be Heigl’s first regular prime-time role since she left Shonda Rhimes’ “Grey’s Anatomy” in 2010. In the years since, Heigl has been working primarily on the big screen, with her most recent release being January’s animated title “The Nut Job.”
Heigl also executive produce “State of Affairs”along with her mom, Nancy Heigl, and writer/director Joe Carnahan, among others.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Heigl’s series is just one of three politically themed shows coming to NBC. Along with “State of Affairs,” the network has placed series orders for a drama called “Allegiance,” about a CIA analyst who learns his parents are deactivated Russian spies, and another drama called “Odyssey,” about an international conspiracy that affects a lawyer, a political activist and a female soldier.
Meanwhile, on NBC’s sister network USA, Amy Poehler’s joining forces with comedian Billy Eichner and writer Julie Klausner for a comedy pilot called “Difficult People.”
The Hollywood Reporter reports that Eichner and Klausner, who co-created the “Difficult People” concept, will star as a pair of NYC best friends who hate everyone except themselves. Klausner is writing the script, and Poehler will executive produce.
The-CNN-Wire
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