Felicity Huffman to Star in New TV Comedy in First Role Since College Admissions Scandal

Felicity Huffman to set to make her return to acting, more than one year after serving a prison sentence for her role in the Operation: Varsity Blues college admissions scandal. According to Deadline, Huffman will star in a new, as-yet-untitled TV comedy inspired by the real-life story of Susan Savage, owner of the Triple-A baseball team the Sacramento River Cats. After multiple offers came in, ABC eventually emerged as the network to secure the series.

Huffman will star as a version of Savage, who inherits the lower-league baseball team after her husband’s tragic death. The Peanut Butter Falcon‘s Zack Gottsagen will co-star as Huffman’s on-screen son, who is “a baseball devotee with Down syndrome.” The series is being produced by Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment, with Becky Hartman Edwards writing. Both Huffman and Savage will also serve as executive producers alongside Hartman Edwards, Kaplan, Dana Honor and Artists First’s Joel Zadak. Gottsagen also serves as a producer.

In 2019, Huffman was arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to serve her time at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California. “I am pleading guilty to the charge brought against me by the United States Attorney’s Office,” she said in an apology statement. “I am in full acceptance of my guilt, and with deep regret and shame over what I have done, I accept full responsibility for my actions and will accept the consequences that stem from those actions.”

“I am ashamed of the pain I have caused my daughter, my family, my friends, my colleagues, and the educational community,” Huffman added. “I want to apologize to them and, especially, I want to apologize to the students who work hard every day to get into college, and to their parents who make tremendous sacrifices to support their children and do so honestly.”

“My daughter knew absolutely nothing about my actions, and in my misguided and profoundly wrong way, I have betrayed her. This transgression toward her and the public I will carry for the rest of my life,” her statement concluded. “My desire to help my daughter is no excuse to break the law or engage in dishonesty.”