'True Blood' werewolf says a 'Prayer' for CBS

Joe Manganiello joins the cast of CBS' 'Livin' on a Prayer' pilot

By HitFix Staff Wednesday, Feb 17, 2010 1:16 AM

'True Blood' werewolf says a 'Prayer' for CBS

Joe Manganiello

Credit: The CW

Fresh off landing a splashy recurring role on HBO's "True Blood," Joe Manganiello has now scored one of the leads in a CBS comedy pilot from the creators of "How I Met Your Mother."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Manganiello will play a former high school football star and husband in "Livin' on a Prayer," created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays. The CBS pilot focuses on an unmarried couple and their friends in Pittsburgh.

Manganiello will play Alcide Herveaux in the upcoming third season of "True Blood." He appeared in multiple episodes of "How I Met Your Mother," which probably put him on Thomas and Bays' radar.

In other CBS pilot casting, James Murray ("Primeval") will appear in the Brett Ratner-directed "Chaos," about a group of rogue CIA operatives.