'October Road' co-star returns to ABC

Geoff Stults

Credit: Evan Agostini/AP

Geoff Stults and Martin Henderson are returning to ABC with a pair of pilot leads.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Stults will join the ensemble of "Happy Town," a mysterious drama about a small community's first murder in seven years. Stults ("The Express") will play the nearly appointed town sheriff in in what is described as a "Twin Peaks"-esque series.

Stults, who co-starred on ABC's "October Road" for two seasons, will be reunited with that cult drama's entire creative team. Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec and Scott Rosenberg wrote "Happy Town," while Gary Fleder, who helmed the "October Road" pilot, will also direct.

Also at ABC, Henderson is the first actor cast in "Inside the Box," a new drama from "Grey's Anatomy" mastermind Shonda Rhimes. 

"Inside the Box" is set at a Washington network news bureau. Henderson will play the male lead, who has an on-again-off-again relationship with the yet-to-be-cast female lead, also his co-worker.

This is the second time Henderson has scored the coveted male lead in a high-profile ABC drama pilot. In 2007, he took on the Brad Pitt role in the network's attempt to bring "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" to the small screen.

On the big screen, Henderson was the male lead in "The Ring" and "Torque."

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