Malcolm Barrett To Headline ‘The Hug Machine’ CBS Comedy Pilot; Michaela Conlin & Allison Guinn Also Cast

Nellie Andreeva
·3 min read

Former Timeless star Malcolm Barrett has been tapped as the lead of the CBS comedy pilot The Hug Machine. Michaela Conlin and Allison Guinn also will star in the project, from Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist executive producer Sam Laybourne, Lonely Island’s Jorma Taccone and CBS Studios.

Barrett was also recently cast in the Apple TV+ series The Changeling headlined by LaKeith Stanfield. He plays Patrice, the best friend of LaKeith’s character, in the project, created by Kelly Marcel.

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Written by Laybourne and directed by Taccone, in The Hug Machine a dad (Barrett) gets a second chance to save both his marriage and his flailing rock career when his band unintentionally finds success in the raucous, cutthroat world of children’s music.

Barrett’s Dan is a loving, unrealistic father of two. His obsession with music has alienated the people he cares most about, namely his two amazing kids and his ex-wife. So, when he stumbles into playing music at his kid’s 6th birthday (swapping out the inappropriate lyrics from his adult band for more kid-themed material) he finds a way to keep doing what he loves while also getting a second chance with his family.

Conlin portrays Dan’s ex-wife, Tara. She is a playful, creative mom and refuses to be the cliché of a judgmental ex. Tara was a bookish teen who rebranded herself in college, experimenting with drugs, professors and ribcage tattoos. Now, Tara’s a pediatric cardiologist who wishes Dan could have grown up when they were still together.

Guinn plays Nikki. An impulsive daredevil, Nikki has been Dan’s bandmate since college, sticking with him through thin, thinner and (present day) thinnest. While Dan’s glow-up as a musician helps him become more of an adult, punk-rock Nikki has no idea how to process mainstream success and is a ticking timebomb of bad decisions.

Laybourne and Taccone executive produce with Lonely Island’s Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer, alongside Ali Bell.

Barrett most recently appeared opposite Cynthia Erivo in Nat Geo series Genius: Aretha. His other TV credits include recurring arcs on The Boys and Santa Clarita Diet. He was previously a series regular on AMC’s Preacher and NBC’s Timeless. He’s repped by Gersh and Management 360.

Probably best known for her role as Angela Montenegro in Fox’s Bones, Conlin was most recently seen on the big screen in comedy Bad Trip, and on television in Yellowstone, For All Mankind and Dollface. She is repped by APA, Mosaic and McKuin Frankel Whitehead.

Guinn can currently be seen recurring as Bunny in Season 4 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Her other TV credits include Inside Amy Schumer, The Knick and Divorce. On stage, Guinn has appeared on Broadway in Hair, On the Town and in the North American tour of Les Miserables. She is repped by Nicolosi & Co. and Jeremy Katz and Clay Mills of The Katz Company.

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