Following the success of 'The Pitt', HBO Max is replicating its model for a new legal TV series, 'Debbie', starring Gabrielle Union. The show follows a former attorney, Debbie Powell, who must rebuild her life and career as a public defender after a public downfall.
Following The Pitt’s success on HBO Max, the streamer will be using the same model applied in the Emmy-winning medical drama for a new legal TV series.
In the year and a half since it premiered, The Pitt has solidified itself as one of HBO Max’s best shows. The Noah Wyle-led depiction of emergency room staff working 12-hour shifts has collected numerous accolades across its first two seasons, including five Emmys and two Golden Globes.
With The Pitt also being cheaper to make than many other prestige streaming dramas, thus allowing it to air new seasons on an annual basis, HBO Max will replicate that formula for a show involving Gabrielle Union. Deadline reports that Union has signed on to executive produce an “elevated legal drama procedural” titled Debbie, which hails from writers and fellow executive producers Bradley Bredeweg and Matthew Thomas.
The in-development series, which the actress is also in talks to lead, follows Debbie Powell, who was once a feared attorney, but now has to rebuild her life and career as a public defender after experiencing a “spectacular public downfall. ” This new chapter will see her “using the skills, connections, and relentless drive that once made her one of Atlanta’s most formidable lawyers to fight for those the system has left behind, one explosive case at a time.
” Debbie is described as an exploration of “the cost of reinvention and the fine line between justice and survival. ” Union will executive produce the legal drama through her production banner I’ll Have Another, and Jenny Frankfurt has also signed on as an executive producer.
Assuming Debbie is officially ordered and filmed, it’s expected to join The Pitt as being a yearly offering on HBO Max, as opposed to releasing new seasons every two or three years, if not longer. This is one of three procedural fronts that HBO Max is tackling.
With The Pitt covering the medical field, and Debbie delving into legal territory, the streamer also has the police side of things handled with the pilot American Blue, as well as developing David E. Kelley’s Welcome to Catalina, which is based off the Michael Connelly-authored book Nightshade. Additionally, HBO Max has a pilot in the works for a family legal drama titled How to Survive Without Me.
The Debbie announcement follows Union’s recent appearances in the movies Goat and Forbidden Fruits earlier this year. This isn’t her first foray into the TV legal drama space.
First, she starred in BET’s Being Mary Jane from 2013 to 2019. Then, in 2023, she was a series regular in the final season of Apple TV’s Truth Be Told. Union’s other recent credits include Cheaper by the Dozen, Strange World, The Perfect Find, Space Cadet, and Riff Raff.
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Meanwhile, as work on Debbie commences at HBO Max, The Pitt season 3 is expected to premiere in January 2027, just like the first two seasons. R. Scott Gemmill created the series, and Wyle is joined in the main cast by Patrick Ball, Katherine LaNasa, Isa Briones, and Taylor Dearden, among others. 310 9.5/10 8/10 The Pitt 10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed TV-MA Drama Release Date January 9, 2025 Network Max Showrunner R. Scott Gemmill Directors Amanda Marsalis Writers Joe Sachs, Cynthia Adarkwa 6 Images Close Cast See All Creator R. Scott Gemmill Powered by Expand Collapse
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