Tim Daly and Tea Leoni are “newlyweds” both in real life and in NBC’s comedy pilot of the same name.
Variety has learned that Daley will play opposite Leoni in the multi-cam pilot. This casting will be their first joint project since their official marriage in July 2025. The two originally met on the set of the CBS drama Madam Secretary, where they also played a married couple.
“Newlyweds” aired as a pilot on NBC in January. According to the logline, the show is “a late-life love story about a free-spirited woman and a serious professor who impulsively marry after a whirlwind courtship.”
Tony, played by Daley, is described as “a newly divorced Tony who happens to meet Jeannie at a volleyball stand and is captivated by her beauty and spirit, and they end up having dinner together. Tony soon realizes that life with Jeannie won’t be the quiet stay-at-home lifestyle he enjoys, but he also knows that changing his ways is better than living without her.”
This role also marks Daley’s return to NBC. There, he famously starred in the hit multi-cam comedy Wings, which ran for eight seasons from 1990 to 1997. He has since appeared on shows such as CBS’ The Fugitive and the aforementioned Madam Secretary, the latter of which ran for six seasons. Daley was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2007 for his role as J.T. Dolan on The Sopranos.
He is repped by IAG, Gateway Management & Production, and Behr Abramson Levy Johnson.
“Newlyweds” hails from writer and executive producer Gail Lerner and co-creator and executive producer Jamie Lee Curtis. Eric Tannenbaum, Kim Tannenbaum, Scott Schwartz and Lionsgate Television also serve as executive producers, with Leoni producing in addition to starring. Pam Fryman will executive produce and direct the pilot. The studio is Universal Television.
