Lee Daniels’ Fox Music Drama ‘Star’ Finds New Showrunner

Chuck Pratt replaces Charles Murray on the series, which is slated to bow midseason.

Chuck Pratt replaces Charles Murray on the series, which is slated to bow midseason.

Lee Daniels' upcoming music drama Star has found a new showrunner.

Chuck Pratt (Desperate Housewives, The Young and the Restless) has come onboard the Fox midseason series as an executive producer, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Pratt replaces original showrunner Charles Murray, who recently departed Star because his vision for the series differed from that of Daniels and co-creator Tom Donaghy. Sources say the split was amicable. 

Daniels co-wrote the pilot with Donaghy for the Atlanta-set drama which centers on three girls (newcomers Jude Demorest, Ryan Destiny and Brittany O'Grady) who form a band. While Daniels' other Fox music drama, Empire, is told from the perspective of music executives, Star focuses on the artist's point of view as the series details the trio's rise to the top in a tough business.

Benjamin Bratt and Queen Latifah headline the series, which is set to launch during Empire's holiday hiatus. Pratt's hiring comes as Star prepares to go into production later this month.

Star is the latest freshman series of the 2016-17 television season to undergo a showrunner change. NBC's DC Comics comedy Powerless is still looking to replace creator Ben Queen. In April, showrunner Eli Jorne exited Fox's live-action/animated hybrid comedy Son of Zorn.

Pratt comes to Star after serving as head writer and executive producer on daytime soaps General Hospital, All My Children and, most recently, The Young and the Restless. His other credits include Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty and The Lying Game. He is repped by Paradigm.

Kate Stanhope