Actor and producer Jared Padalecki, best known for his role in Walker, has reunited with showrunner Anna Fricke for a new drama series, set to be developed at CBS. The untitled project, which mirrors the Texas-based setting of Walker, will see Padalecki step into the role of a country doctor rather than a ranger.
This one-hour drama, unlike many conventional medical shows set in bustling urban hospitals, will shine a light on rural healthcare—a rarely explored theme on television. Padalecki plays a determined country doctor who practices an unconventional form of medicine, providing care alongside a young doctor seeking refuge from her past. Together, they operate a mobile clinic, serving the underserved communities of rural Texas, a region often described as a “medical desert.”
The show will be produced by Fricke and Laura Terry through Fricke’s Pursued by a Bear production company, with Padalecki and Dan Spilo also serving as executive producers. CBS Studios, where both Fricke and Padalecki have overall and first-look deals respectively, will serve as the studio behind the project.
Fricke’s partnership with Padalecki extends beyond this new venture. She has been a key collaborator on Padalecki’s hit series Walker, and has also worked on its prequel Walker: Independence. The duo’s successful collaboration in the television space has been a strong point in both of their careers.
Padalecki, who also appeared in a three-episode arc of the CBS drama Fire Country, continues to develop multiple projects with CBS Studios. His potential involvement in a Fire Country spinoff, titled Fire Country: Surfside, is still in early stages and remains a possibility, though the focus remains on the ongoing developments with Sheriff Country, another spinoff from Fire Country, which is scheduled for release next season.
In addition to the Walker franchise, Padalecki has several other projects in the pipeline at CBS Studios under his first-look deal, which he extended last year.
Fricke, who has a wide range of television credits including 4400, Valor, and Wayward Pines, is also involved in the development of the NBC drama Look What You Made Me Do. The series, which she and Terry are executive producing, will explore a different aspect of human drama, with Leila Cohan serving as both writer and executive producer.
Both Fricke and Padalecki are represented by UTA and Industry Entertainment, and their ongoing creative partnership continues to shape the landscape of both broadcast and cable television.
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