‘Open’: Aisha Tyler re-teams with Ryan Murphy for HBO pilot
Ryan Murphy has showed a fondness time and time again for using the same actors across multiple projects; just look, for example, at him keeping the same people on “American Horror Story,” or using NeNe Leakes on both “Glee” and “The New Normal.”
But for a guest-starring role in his new pilot “Open” with Lauren Gussis (“Dexter”), he is going with someone who appeared in both “Nip/Tuck” and “Glee” over the years: Aisha Tyler. According to TVLine, the comedienne from “The Talk” and host for the “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” revival is going to appear in the pilot as Monica, a married nurse practicing at the establishment owned by Grace (Michelle Monaghan), and someone who has a pretty modern perspective on what marriage means.
“Open” as a whole is meant to be a show that really explores the subject of modern sexuality, and we almost like to consider it as a modern version of Showtime’s “Masters of Sex” minus all of the talk of research and the “study.” This is a show that was hotly-contestant for by a number of networks, and Murphy has also assembled a pretty great cast for it. In addition to Monaghan, this is also the first post-“Fringe” series for Anna Torv, and the other stars include Jennifer Jason Leigh, Scott Speedman (“Last Resort”), and Wes Bentley. It’s an ambitious project, and it is one of many new shows that HBO could choose from. They have already given a greenlight to “The Leftovers,” the first post-“Lost” series anchored by prolific writer and former Twitter guru Damon Lindelof.
As for when “Open” could feasibly air, if picked up, it would probably still be a long ways out. You need to give the time for the writers to create the scripts, and then time for production to start. Therefore, it could be 2015 at least until we see the show on the air, unless by some miracle they have it ready for the end of last year. “American Horror Story” is a great example of a Murphy show that was fast-tracked to air after getting picked up by FX.
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Photo: HBO