Kelsey Grammer to Star in NBC EMT Drama Pops
Kelsey Grammer will star in Pops, an emergency-medicine drama in development at NBC, Deadline reported in an exclusive. The announcement came on 14 October.
The project is in development, meaning NBC is working up the idea but has not yet ordered a pilot or a series. That is the earliest public stage for a broadcast show. No episode count or air date has been set.
Grammer plays the title character. He is a man who has aged out of a successful career and retrains in emergency medicine, working alongside first responders half his age. He starts over in a physical, high-pressure job. It is a workplace story about starting again late in life.
What makes this stand out is the real life behind it. Pops is based on Ed Levien, a Maryland resident who became a volunteer EMT after a career in advertising. An EMT is the trained emergency responder who staffs ambulances and answers urgent medical calls. Many viewers will recognise that kind of second act.
Levien started in his 60s. Younger colleagues nicknamed him “Pops”. He served for 12 years and then returned last autumn at age 76, according to the report. The title reflects that nickname.
The script comes from Danny Weiss, a longtime writer-producer on Chicago Med, NBC’s long-running medical show. Weiss will executive produce, meaning he will oversee the show creatively alongside other senior producers. Grammer, Levien and Jordan McMahon also serve as executive producers, through Grammnet NH Productions and 3 Arts Entertainment.
Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, is the studio behind the project. The studio organises the production and holds the show’s long-term rights. In US broadcast television, the studio makes the show and the network schedules and airs it. NBC would be the US broadcast home if it moves forward.
For viewers hoping to watch soon, this means a wait. Shows in development still need scripts, casting decisions and a formal green light before filming can begin. If NBC orders a pilot, that test episode will determine whether a full series follows. Until then, Pops lives on paper and in meetings. It has a star, a writer and a true story.
