USA has ordered comedy Benched, marking the top-rated cabler's first pickup of 2014.
Benched is the first series to come out of ABC Signature, a boutique division of ABC Studios. The single-camera comedy is from Trophy Wife's Michaela Watkins and Damon Jones (Halfway Home). Party Down cocreator John Enbom serves as an executive producer.
The courtroom comedy stars Eliza Coupe (pictured) (Scrubs, Happy Endings) as a corporate lawyer who suffers a nervous breakdown after getting passed over for a promotion and becomes a public defender. Jay Harrington (Better Off Ted) also stars as one of Coupe's new colleagues.
The series order comes as USA is gearing up for its push into the comedy genre. The cabler has been airing Modern Family repeats since September to launch its originals, the first being Sirens in March followed by Playing House sometime in the spring.
