TVSquad

This sounds like a promising new project: John Corbett as Toni Collette's leading man in the Showtime comedy pilot United States of Tara. The show comes from the pen of Diablo Cody, fresh off her Oscar win as the screenwriter of Juno, and the pilot's director is Craig Gillespie who received plaudits for the indie hit Lars and the Real Girl. Oh, and did I mention that Steven Spielberg is one of the producers? Considering this collection of talent and Showtime's recent programming successes, United States of Tara sounds like another ace for the cable net.

United States of Tara, was first announced last July, so it's taken a while to put all the pieces together. The premise is all about a woman with a multiple personality disorder, played by Toni, whose alternates make for comic mischief. John has signed up as Max Gregor, Tara's husband, a contractor whose life is in turmoil because of her condition. He's obsessed with trying to help her and reads as much as he can about her ailment. It's a serious subject matter, but the idea is to find the dark comic elements. Diablo did that with teenage pregnancy in Juno, so it'll be curious to see what she does with this situation.

It'll be great to see Corbett back on TV. Since his days as Chris in the Morning on Northern Exposure, he's been a welcomed presence on every show he's graced. He was one of Carrie's best beaus on HBO's Sex & the City, an addicted gambler living in Vegas on USA's Lucky, among other series and TV movies. With Showtime, he did a pilot called Manchild in 2006.