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Alan Cumming to Lead New CBS Drama Dr. Death, Based on a Forthcoming James Patterson Novel

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The Good Wife might be over, but CBS isn’t letting Alan Cumming go so easily. Deadline reports that Cumming will return to the network in a series it’s developing called Dr. Death, based on a soon-to-be-published book by James Patterson. The series will focus on a former CIA operative who got out of the intelligence game and settled into civilian life as a “gifted” professor, only to be roped back into crime fighting when the NYPD calls upon him to help stop a serial killer. In praising Cumming’s talents, Patterson gave away a little more about his character, saying, “There aren’t many stars who can convincingly play drama and comedy with effortless wit, not to mention a musical savant and crime-solving genius.” So get ready for intellectual puzzle-solving montages in which Cumming shuffles many papers while pantomiming a concert violinist and making sweeping conductor motions with his arms — or something like that. Patterson and Cumming will produce Dr. Death with showrunner Michael Rauch and frequent J.J. Abrams collaborator Alex Kurtzman.

Alan Cumming to Lead New CBS Drama Dr. Death