‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Castoff Isaiah Washington Snares a ‘Bionic’ Gig
Plus a Development Deal That Puts Him in the Driver’s Seat
New NBC head honcho Ben Silverman is starting to give me a migraine already. After making the inexplicable decision last week to extend the run of the pitiful reality series The Apprentice, he has now approved a truly daring and commendable deal with an actor that has spent more time in the media spotlight in recent weeks than his entire career before then. Isaiah Washington, the infamously fired star of ABC’s hit ensemble medical drama Grey’s Anatomy (and, please, don’t make me have to regurgitate the reasons why for the umpteenth gazillionth time—if you don’t know yet, just google “isaiah” and “knight”), has won a role in what is arguably the Peacock Network’s most highly anticipated new series of the forthcoming fall season, its re-imagination of the Bionic Woman, starring British actress Michelle Ryan in the lead Lindsay Wagner role of Jaime Sommers.
According to Silverman himself at this morning’s Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills, Washington will make guest appearances in five of the series’ first six episodes. Variety additionally reports that “Silverman said he jumped at the chance to cast the fired ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ star as soon as he found out he was available.”
Along with portraying the questionable head of a government agency with an unknown agenda on Bionic Woman, Washington will also be busy working the kinks out of a new 2008–2009 action series he proposed to NBC that would star—surprise!—him if greenlit.
Excellent—I knew the talented but bigmouthed actor wouldn’t be out of work for long. Maybe now Washington will simmer down for a while before publicly pushing anymore of his many, many theories about why he got booted from his Preston Burke role.
Related News: ABC Effectively Dumps Isaiah Washington from ‘Grey’s Anatomy’
Isaiah Washington photo courtesy of Maury Phillips/WireImage.com
