Courteney Cox Cast in Lead Role in Starz’s Horror Comedy Pilot “Shining Vale”

Starz announced Golden Globe(R) nominee Courteney Cox (“Friends,” “Cougar Town“) is set to star in the horror-comedy pilot “Shining Vale,” playing the lead role of Patricia “Pat” Phelps. The half-hour comedy from Jeff Astrof and Sharon Horgan is produced by Warner Bros. Television and Lionsgate in association with Other Shoe Productions, Merman and Kapital Entertainment.

“As Starz continues to expand its slate of original comedy series, we are incredibly proud to bring a talented actress such as Courteney Cox to the network to topline ‘Shining Vale,'” said Jeffrey Hirsch, President and CEO of Starz. “Her previous success in the genre combined with her well-honed comedic chops make her the ideal actor to bring Pat to life.”

“Shining Vale” is a horror-comedy about a dysfunctional family that moves from the city to a small town into a house in which terrible atrocities have taken place. But no one seems to notice except for Pat (Cox), who’s convinced she’s either depressed or possessed – turns out, the symptoms are exactly the same. Patricia “Pat” Phelps is a former “wild child” who rose to fame by writing a raunchy, drug-and-alcohol-soaked women’s empowerment novel (a.k.a. lady porn). Fast forward 17 years later, Pat is clean and sober but totally unfulfilled. She still hasn’t written her second novel, she can’t remember the last time she had sex with her husband, and her teenage kids are at that stage where they love their vile friends and want you dead. She was a faithful wife until her one slip-up: a torrid 15-night-stand with a hot, young artist/handyman/musician neighbor. In a last-ditch effort to save her marriage, she and her family move from the “crazy” of the city to a large, old house in the suburbs where evil and humor collide.

Courteney Cox gained overnight fame as she endeared herself to millions as the neurotic yet loveable Monica Geller on the Emmy(R) Award-winning NBC/WBTV comedy “Friends.” For six seasons, Cox starred as Jules Cobb in her Golden Globe(R)-nominated role as a recently divorced mom in her forties facing the humorous challenges, pitfalls and rewards of life’s next chapter in the comedy sitcom “Cougar Town.” Cox also currently serves as an executive producer and the host on Facebook Watch’s documentary series, “Nine Months with Courteney Cox” via her Hopper Productions banner and Ample Entertainment. The widely popular series received a nomination for “Short Form Series” for the first-ever Critics’ Choice Real TV Awards in 2018 and is currently filming its second season, set to air in 2020.

Cox is repped by WME Entertainment and Brillstein Entertainment Partners.

“Shining Vale” is executive produced by Jeff Astrof (“Trial & Error,” “Ground Floor,”) from Other Shoe Productions, Sharon Horgan (“Divorce,” “Catastrophe“) and Clelia Mountford (“Motherland,” “This Way Up,”) from Merman, and Aaron Kaplan (“Life in Pieces,” “The Chi“) and Dana Honor (“A Million Little Things,” “The Neighborhood“) from Kapital Entertainment. Astrof wrote the pilot, from a story by Horgan & Astrof. Dearbhla Walsh (“The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Traitors“) directs and executive produces the pilot.

Senior Vice President of Original Programming Susan Lewis is the executive overseeing “Shining Vale” on behalf of Starz.