Felicity Huffman is staging a return to acting in her first TV gig since completing a short prison sentence for her role in the college admissions bribery scandal.
The “Desperate Housewives” alum has reportedly landed the lead in an untitled, single-camera comedy at ABC inspired by the life of Susan Savage, the current owner of the Sacramento River Cats, a minor league baseball team and Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, according to Deadline.
Huffman was released from prison in October after pleading guilty to committing mail fraud and honest services fraud in connection with the nationwide admissions scam that involved more than 30 parents, including fellow actress Lori Loughlin.
The Emmy winner admitted to paying an admissions consultant $15,000 to correct and improve one of her daughter’s SAT scores. In addition to a 14-day prison sentence of which she only served 11 days, Huffman was also ordered to pay a fine of $30,000 and to serve one year of supervised release and 250 hours of community service.
But the scandal has only seemingly boosted interest in Huffman, who has reportedly been “heavily courted for TV series and pilots” since her release, per Deadline.
She was reportedly approached by producer Aaron Kaplan about the idea for the series, which has since landed at ABC with a script from Becky Hartman Edwards and “The Peanut Butter Falcon” actor Zack Gottsagen also attached to star.
Huffman has a long history with the network, which has been home to series like “Sports Night, “Desperate Housewives” and, most recently, “American Crime,” which all earned the actor major awards attention.
Her new show is described as a “funny, surprising and occasionally heartbreaking half-hour about love, loss, family and Triple-A baseball,” with Huffman at the center as “the unlikely owner of a minor-league baseball team” following the death of her husband.
“After suddenly losing her husband and inheriting his beloved team, she is forced to navigate her new normal with the help of her dysfunctional family, including her oldest son (Gottsagen), a baseball devotee with Down syndrome, her work family and the Sacramento community at large,” the description reads, per Deadline. “This is the story of a woman navigating grief, local politics and the business of sports and learning not just to adjust, but to thrive.”
Huffman was most recently seen in last year’s Netflix limited series “When They See Us,” as well as the films “Otherhood” and “Tammy’s Always Dying,” which she completed before the admissions scandal was made public in 2019.