Parker Posey Exits NBC's New Comedy The Family Guide

Amid the flurry of NBC cancellations this week, the network has also dropped another bomb: Parker Posey is leaving NBC’s recently picked up program, The Family Guide. The actress signed on for The Family Guide earlier this year, when the project was an untitled pilot being put together by DJ Nash. You would think with the hard part out of the way, Posey would stick around, but The Family Guide will be moving forward to series without the actress.

Posey’s leaving doesn’t seem to have anything to do with her performance during the pilot. Instead, it seems voluntary, with THR reporting the actress “did not have a good experience” when she was shooting the pilot. Humorously enough, the male lead for The Family Guide, J.K. Simmons, is also currently not fully committed to the series, being contractually obligated to ABC’s Family Tools until that series is (invariably) cancelled.

Hopefully, NBC’s brand new comedy will be able to secure Simmons and find an equally capable leading lady. The Jason Bateman, Nash, and Jim Garavente produced pilot sounds like it has promise, following a blind man and his family, who are working their way through a tough divorce. Bateman will also contribute to the series, providing voiceover narration as an adult who is telling the story of his parent’s divorce during the show. NBC’s in major need of a few hit comedies right now, and even without Parker Posey, we hope the recently picked up Family Guide is a winner.

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.