Nina Dobrev Could Be Heading Back To TV This Fall In A New CBS Comedy, So Set Your DVR Now

Listen up, The Vampire Diaries fans — Nina Dobrev might be returning to TV this fall. According to Deadline, the actor has been cast as the lead in the CBS comedy Fam. That's right, Dobrev's new project is a sitcom, proving that Mystic Falls and Elena are definitely in her rear-view mirror now.

Fam hails from The Newsroom's story editor, Corinne Kingsbury, and it focuses on two sisters and their relationship with their oddball father. Dobrev is set to play Clem, who Deadline describes as "grounded, deeply funny, quick-witted and outspoken." While Clem's young adulthood was a bit messy, she's reinvented herself and is ready to settle down with her fiancé, Jay. There's just one problem: she's been lying to everyone in her life about her father, who she's been claiming is dead. Her lie is threatened to be exposed when her half-sister Shannon comes to live with her in order to get away from their eccentric father.

Nashville's Odessa Adlon has been cast as Clem's sister, Shannon. She joins Dobrev, and Brian Stokes Mitchell and Sheryl Lee Ralph, who will play Jay's dad and mom. Jay, as well as the sisters' dad, Freddy Banks, have not yet been cast, but you can bet CBS is likely looking for a big personality to play the definitely not dead Freddy.

Just based on the description, it's clear that Fam is a very different TV project for Dobrev. After six years of playing Elena, a teen caught in a vampire love triangle, the 29-year-old actor's post-series choices have shown that she's ready to take on more adult roles. Clem certainly sounds like a fascinating woman. On the one hand, she's meant to be charming and have her life completely together, but on the other, she has this whole complicated family situation that she's been keeping secret. That duality not only sounds fun to play, as an audience member, it sounds like it could also be a blast to watch.

Then there's the part where this is a traditional, multi-camera sitcom. Dobrev isn't known for comedy, but she's definitely flexed her comedic muscles in the past. Not only has she appeared in comedies like Workaholics and 2015's The Final Girls, she's also done voice work for Adult Swim's Robot Chicken. The actor has shown that she can be funny and dramatic. The Vampire Diaries showed the actor's range, for sure, but Elena's life (and afterlife) was so full of drama that there was never much time for laughs. For that reason, it would be refreshing to see her take on a character who's both the lead and a genuinely funny person.

Since The Vampire Diaries ended, Dobrev has largely been focusing on film roles. She's starred in xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, Flatliners, and Crash Pad. The actor has a trio of indie films set to be released in 2018 as well. While it's been fun to see her take on a wide range of roles on the big screen, Dobrev was so fantastic at anchoring The Vampire Diaries, it's impossible not to look forward to her returning to her TV roots.

It's still early days for Fam. CBS has only ordered a pilot so far, which means there's no guarantee that the project will actually make it to air. However, having Dobrev attached feels like a good sign — who wouldn't want to be in the Dobrev business? She's already proven that she can lead a successful TV show, and she's always fun to watch.

Keep your fingers crossed that the Fam pilot turns out to be as promising in execution as it sounds on paper, because if it is, then the one and only Dobrev could be making her triumphant return to TV as soon as the fall.