ABC said Monday that it has picked up The Company You Keep, starring and executive produced by This Is Us alum Milo Ventimiglia, to series. The drama, produced by 20th Television, a part of Disney Television Studios, was the last remaining “second cycle” pilot to learn its fate, but was a consistent frontrunner and a move to a series pickup always looked promising.
Like drama pilot Will Trent, which was picked up to series this month, The Company You Keep had started a writers room in anticipation of a series order. The project also had brought on seasoned writer-producer Phil Klemmer as co-showrunner. It will debut at midseason on ABC in 2023.
Based on a Korean series called My Fellow Citizens, The Company You Keep comes from This Is Us producer 20th Television and writer/co-showrunner Julia Cohen (A Million Little Things, Riverdale). Ventimiglia plays Charlie, a con man who shares a night of passion that leads to love with CIA officer Emma (Catherine Haena Kim, Good Trouble), who are unknowingly on a collision course professionally. Per the show’s description, “Charlie ramps up the ‘family business’ so he can get out for good, while Emma’s closing in on the vengeful criminal who holds Charlie’s family debts in-hand — forcing them to reckon with the lies they’ve told so they can save themselves and their families from disastrous consequences.”
The show also stars William Fichtner as Leo, Tim Chiou as David, Freda Foh Shen as Grace, James Saito as Joseph, Sarah Wayne Callies as Birdie, Felisha Terrell as Daphne, and Polly Draper as Fran.
Julia Cohen and Klemmer serve as executive producers and co-showrunners. Ventimiglia and Russ Cundiff executive produce for DiVide Pictures, along with Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu and Caitlin Foito for Electric Somewhere, and Todd Harthan and Lindsay Goffman. Deanna Harris (DiVide Pictures) is a producer. The pilot episode is written by Cohen and directed and executive produced by Ben Younger.