Isaiah Washington gets "second chance" at NBC

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Isaiah Washington, fired last month from the ABC hit medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" after reportedly making an anti-gay slur, has landed a new role, and a development deal, with rival network NBC.

Washington will guest star in five episodes of NBC's upcoming sci-fi action drama "Bionic Woman," a 21st-century remake of the 1970s series that starred Lindsay Wagner and was itself a spinoff of "The Six Million Dollar Man."

The updated version stars Michelle Ryan as a young automobile-accident victim, Jaime Sommers, who is surgically retrofitted with high-tech biological implants to give her extraordinary powers.

Washington will play a mysterious figure who is brought into the enigmatic scientific organization behind the "bionics" that transform Jamie, and whose own agenda is unclear as he instructs her on how to handle her new abilities.

NBC said the network also is developing a separate "action-series" project with Washington based on an idea from the actor.

"He's a wonderful actor and a great performer, and he became available," said NBC's new chief programmer, Ben Silverman, who was installed as the network's co-chairman of entertainment in late May with Marc Graboff.

Washington, who co-starred as a surgeon, Dr. Preston Burke, on "Grey's Anatomy," was dismissed from the show in June by the producers at ABC Television Studios.

Last year, Washington sparked controversy after a heated argument on the "Grey's" set in which he reportedly referred to co-star T.R. Knight as a "faggot."

Washington denied the report. But Knight, who later came out as gay, said Washington had used the slur.

Despite his public denials, Washington, 43, later met with gay and lesbian groups in Los Angeles, entered counseling and filmed a public service announcement denouncing hurtful speech.

Graboff called the decision to cast Washington in one of NBC's most high-profile new series "a second chance," saying he was confident the actor had "learned his lessons about the way he acts around his fellow actors and the public."

"He knows he came this close to losing his career," Graboff added.

Silverman and Graboff were making their first appearance as the new management team for NBC at the network's annual summer presentation to television critics.

Reuters/Nielsen