Say It Ain't So! HBO Passes on Patti LuPone Pilot People In New Jersey

Don’t cry for me, New Jersey! Looks like we won’t have the chance to see Patti LuPone playing mama on the small screen to Sarah Silverman and Topher Grace after all. According to Deadline, HBO has passed on the previously announced Lorne Michaels comedy pilot People In New Jersey, which featured the Tony-winning diva.

The half-hour series from Girls scribe Bruce Eric Kaplan tells the story of Carl (Grace) and Melanie (Silverman), a brother and sister living in New Jersey who ponder life’s questions while struggling to get through the day. LuPone was set to play their mom Rachel Levin, who has been lost since the death of her husband. Bridesmaids’s Paul Feig was on board to write, direct and executive produce the pilot.

LuPone's no doubt got an Anything Goes sort of attitude about it, though. After booking TV time on Girls and American Horror Story, she is set to appear in the L.A. Opera's upcoming production of The Ghost of Versailles.