Universal TV Develops 'Good People' From Natalie Baszile's 'Friends and Family'
Universal Television is developing a TV drama called Good People, based on Friends and Family, the second novel by Natalie Baszile. Deadline reported the project on 29 October 2026. "Developing" means the studio is working on the idea but has not yet sold it to a network or streaming service.
Universal won the rights, meaning permission to adapt the book, in a competitive situation. The rights were secured before the novel's release on 6 October. The book follows two mothers: Babs, a Black woman, and Nora, a white woman. Babs is a successful, self-made interior designer. Nora is her best friend, from an old-money family.
According to Deadline, the story is set in Northern California and loosely based on real events from Baszile's own life. An affair and a police confrontation involving Nora's adopted Black son disrupt the stability of both families. The book has been described as a story about two best friends whose bond is tested by race, identity and allyship.
The writer is Marissa Jo Cerar, whose previous credits include 13 Reasons Why and Black Cake. Gina Prince-Bythewood is set to direct the potential pilot, which is the test episode a broadcaster or streamer usually watches before ordering a full season. Her credits include Love & Basketball and A Different World. Her husband, Reggie Rock Bythewood, is also an executive producer, working through their company Undisputed Cinema.
Debra Martin Chase and Mary J. Blige are attached as executive producers too. Chase works through Martin Chase Productions. Her film credits include the Oscar-nominated Harriet and the franchises The Princess Diaries and The Cheetah Girls. Blige works through Blue Butterfly Productions. Martin Chase Productions has a first-look deal with Universal Television, which means the studio gets the first chance to make its projects. Baszile is also an executive producer.
The book is a follow-up to Queen Sugar, her 2014 novel. That story became a series on OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network, in 2016. Ava DuVernay created it and Oprah Winfrey was an executive producer. It ran for seven seasons, according to Variety, which first reported the Good People project.
For readers, the next step is the sales stage. Deadline reports the project is expected to be taken out to buyers soon. That means showing it to networks and streaming services that could decide to order it. No buyer has been named so far.
Until then, the show exists on paper, with a writer, a director and a producing team lined up. It is one of many projects that move through this stage each year, and most never reach a screen. For the people involved, the work now is the script and the pitch.
