NCIS: Los Angeles co-star Eric Christian Olsen is expanding his relationship with the studio behind the long-running CBS crime drama. The actor has signed a first-look deal with CBS Television Studios. Under the pact, he has sold two projects to CBS, medical drama Nurses, based on the Finnish series, and multi-camera comedy Life Lessons, based on a Canadian digital series, via his Cloud Nine Productions banner.
Written by Cathryn Humphris (Colony, Mad Men), Nurses is described as a heart-pounding medical show centering around four trauma center nurses charged with everything from triage to surgery who must balance life and death stakes on the job with the drama of their complicated lives outside the hospital. It is based on the 2014 Finnish show of the same name (Syke), which was the most watched series in the history of Yle Areena, the national broadcaster’s online streaming service. In October 2016, Sisters (Syrror) the Swedish adaptation of Nurses, premiered on TV4 to strong ratings.
Humphris executive produces with Cloud Nine’s Olsen and Kate Schumaecker.
Multi-camera comedy Life Lessons is based on the Canadian digital series Kids On created by Dave Keystone and Nolan Sarner. It centers on a guy who is a professional failure at life and finds advice and friendship in the most unlikely of places… a class of first graders.
Mark Gross is penning the script, and Olsen and Schumaecker executive produce for Cloud Nine. CBS TV Studios is the studio for both projects.
Olsen just started his tenth season portraying Detective Marty Deeks on CBS’ NCIS: Los Angeles. He is repped by UTA, Ellen Meyer Management and Hansen Jacobson.
It is common practice for the stars of successful series to branch out into producing with development deals they usually get in contract renegotiations. Former NCIS and current Bull star Michael Weatherly has been very active under his CBS TV Studios deal, selling a number of projects; The Big Bang Theory‘s Jim Parsons and Johnny Galecki both landed series on the air though their WBTV pacts.
Humphris most recently served as co-executive producer on Tell Me Your Secrets on TNT. Her previous writing/producing credits include USA Network’s Colony, NCIS: New Orleans, Under the Dome and Mad Men. She is repped by UTA, Manage-ment and Morris Yorn.
