Langston Kerman has joined the cast of NBC‘s currently untitled comedy pilot written by Dan Goor and Luke Del Tredici.
He will play Justin Royal, who is described as “a great big teddy bear of a man” and works as a private investigator at an agency run by his father, Julius Royal (Keith David), “a tough guy with somewhat antiquated views of the world.” (David’s character was previously reported to be named Garner Taggart). Justin is the main investigator at the agency alongside Mickey, who is “smart, cynical and heartbroken but trying to pretend he’s not” and played by Jake Johnson.
NBC has not yet released specific plot details about the pilot. The official logline keeps it simple, saying that the project “continues the proud tradition of Los Angeles private eyes that began with Philip Marlowe and will end with this show.” Along with David, Kerman and Johnson, the cast also includes Jane Levy as “whip smart” investigative journalist Faye and Mary Shalaby as “flagrantly disinterested” receptionist Raya.
Kerman’s previous acting credits include “Insecure” on HBO, “Bless This Mess” on ABC, “The Boys” on Amazon Prime Video, “The Other Black Girl” on Hulu, “English Teacher” on FX and “Abbott Elementary” on ABC. He also served as head writer on the HBO talk show “Pause With Sam Jay” and wrote for “Everybody’s Live With John Mulaney”; Mulaney later directed Kerman’s 2025 Netflix comedy special “Bad Poetry.” Up next, he will appear alongside Jonah Hill and Kristen Wiig in the film “Cut Off” and in Amazon’s “Barbershop” series. He is repped by WME, Rise Management and Ziffren Brittenham.
Goor and Del Tredici serve as writers and executive producers, with Akiva Schaffer directing and executive producing the pilot. Bialy/Thomas & Associates oversee casting. Universal Television is the studio.
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