Noah Wyle Heads Back to TV with Ava DuVernay Police Shooting Drama

Noah Wyle is returning to television, and it's with an intense new CBS pilot called Red Line.

Executive produced by Selma's Ava DuVernay and Greg Berlanti, Red Line will focus on the racial issues surrounding police shootings. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the story takes place after a white police officer shoots and kills a black doctor. The three families it follows will all have different connections to the case, giving us different perspectives on the aftermath of the shooting.

Wyle will star as Daniel Calder. He is described as "a dedicated high school teacher who is mourning the loss of his innocent African-American husband," meaning there will also be an interesting LGBTQ component built in to the story. The police officer who shot Daniels' husband will be played by Shameless's Noel Fisher.

If this series gets picked up, it will be Wyle's first major television role since Falling Skies.

CBS has faced criticism in recent years for its lack of diversity, though the network took a necessary step forward with some of the racially motivated storylines in their new series,S.W.A.T.. Red Line may be a surprising choice for CBS, but it could pay off for them since it presents an opportunity to have institutional racism as a cornerstone of the show rather than an occasional subplot.