'Sopranos' Star Gets New Showtime Comedy

Los Angeles -- Three-time Emmy Award-winning actress Edie Falco is set to play a strong-willed New York City nurse in a new half-hour comedy series for Showtime.

Falco is best known for her portrayal of mob wife Carmela Soprano on the HBO series "The Sopranos."

Showtime said Thursday the new pilot, which it is co-producing with Lionsgate Television, will go into pre-production immediately, with shooting to take place in New York.

"To be bringing Edie Falco to Showtime is both a privilege and an honor," said Showtime's Robert Greenblatt in making the announcement. "She sits firmly in the pantheon of the great actresses of our day, and to have found a show and a great role that meets her standards after six seasons of 'The Sopranos' is our distinct pleasure and great fortune. Bada bing is all I can think of to say!"

"The opportunity to explore the human fallout from our broken medical system in this compelling single-camera comedy for Showtime was an incredibly exciting proposition," Lionsgate's Kevin Beggs added. "That we will be doing so with the peerless Edie Falco as our heroine elevated the opportunity exponentially."

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.