Jennifer Lopez is joining the force…
The 44-year-old Puerto Rican actress/singer and American Idol judge will star in an NBC detective drama Shades of Blue, which has received a 13-episode straight-to-series order from the network.
Produced by Lopez and Ryan Seacrest and written by Adi Hasak, the complex police series centers on Harlee McCord (portrayed by Lopez), a single mother and detective recruited to work undercover for the FBI’s anti-corruption task force.
Part of a close-knit unit known for its conviction record, Harlee has become compromised by her colleagues — all of whom also pitch in to help her raise her daughter — and finds herself faced with the moral dilemma of working against her cop brothers in order to redeem herself.
The project will begin working on scripts in June with an eye toward a 2015 production start date, all for the 2015-16 season.
“Whether its producing, acting, singing or any of her other many entrepreneurial activities, Jennifer is an extraordinary talent and life force, and we’re delighted to be in business with her and Adi Hasak on this sophisticated show,” said NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke. “We’re especially excited that Jennifer is returning to her acting roots from such great movies as Out of Sight, and we know that she will create this complicated character in a vivid way that will breathe new life into the cop show genre. Ryan Seacrest is part of the NBCU family and doing his first scripted drama series with us makes perfect sense.”
After a couple of brief television series gigs in the early 1990s, Lopez transitioned into features with her breakout starring roles in 1997′s Selena and 1998′s Out of Sight.
For the past two decades, she has largely stayed away from scripted series sans a couple of guest starring stints, including Will & Grace and How I Met Your Mother, while becoming a reality star as a judge on American Idol.
As a producer, she has a hit with ABC Family’s drama series The Fosters.
