Mago Martindale has joined not one, but two new pilots. And does that mean "A Gifted Man" is facing cancellation?
Martindale, an Emmy winner for her work on "Justified," will guest star in Showtime's "Masters of Sex" pilot. Martindale will play the Miss Horchow, the "very by the book secretary" of William Masters (Michael Sheen). Beau Bridges has also joined the cast as University Chancellor Barton Scully, Masters' boss.
"Party Down" star Lizzy Caplan co-stars as Virginia Johnson in the series, which is based on Thomas Maier's book "Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, The Couple Who Taught America How To Love." "Gossip Girl" actress Caitlin Fitzgerald will play Masters' wife, Libby. "Shakespeare in Love" veteran John Madden is directing the pilot, which will soon begin production in New York.
Martindale's other TV project includes ABC's "Counter Culture." According to TVLine, Martindale will co-star opposite Doris Roberts in the comedy about three older sisters who run a Texas dinee. Martindale will play one of the sisters and Roberts will play the diner's cashier.
The ABC pilot is in second position to CBS's "A Gifted Man" and Showtime only lists Martindale as a guest star in the "Masters of Sex" pilot. So should "A Gifted Man" be renewed for a second season, Martindale would return to the medical drama over the ABC comedy. Time will tell where Martindale will end up: "A Gifted Man" has done decently in the Nielsen ratings with its last episode bringing in about 9.1 million viewers. But, in the coveted 18-49 demographic, it had a very low 1.3 rating, an especially bad number for CBS.