Amy Pietz Joins Lifetime’s Mrs. Novak

Amy Pietz has been tapped for the title role in Lifetime’s drama pilot The Amazing Mrs. Novak. The project, based on the six-part U.K. series The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard, centers on Trish Novak (Pietz), a supermarket manager who unexpectedly becomes the governor of New Jersey.

Also cast in the pilot are Tom Verica as Novak’s husband, Frank, and Kristen Dattilo as Goldie, her sister-in-law. The show, which was picked up in early August, has garnered a lot of heat recently with the ascent of Alaska Govenor Sarah Palin to the Republican presidential ticket. Vanessa Taylor is the project’s writer-showrunner. She executive produces with Carolyn Bernstein, Jane Featherstone and Stephen Garrett.