Nicole Ari Parker and Anthony Ruivivar have joined the cast of A&E’s upcoming hour-long pilot Big Mike. The Sony TV –produced show stars Greg Grunberg as an overweight detective with the San Francisco Police Department.

Parker will play Lieutenant Grace Peterson. Ruivivar will play Mike's partner Armando, a former Marine.

Before landing the pilot for Big Mike, Parker's last major TV role was playing the character Teri Joseph on the Showtime drama Soul Food.

Paris Barclay has signed on to direct the pilot. The famed Black director most recently served as executive producer and director on HBO's In Treatment and directed three episodes of Fox's musical dramedy Glee. But for old-school hip hop heads, Barclay will always be the pesky manager character from videos for LL Cool J songs like “Jingling Baby.”

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