'NCIS's' Weatherly to star in CBS pilot based on young Dr. Phil

Michael Weatherly is leaving CBS's top-rated drama, NCIS, but he could be staying at the network.

A fan favorite as NCIS special agent Anthony DiNozzo, Weatherly has signed on to play the lead character in Dr. Bull, a drama based on a younger version of famed TV host Dr. Phil. Dr. Phil, or Phillip McGraw, who will serve as an executive producer, was head of one of the most prolific trial-consulting services before he got his TV show.

CBS announces finale dates for 'Good Wife,' 'NCIS's' DiNozzo

In Dr. Bull, Weatherly will play "the head of a company that analyzes juries to help develop defense strategies. He has a physicality and feral intelligence that make him magnetic to women, and a bruising candor," according to the description of the role.

The drama pilot, to be produced by CBS Television Studios, also will feature Freddy Rodriguez (The Night Shift, Six Feet Under) as Benny, "the only lawyer on the team, (who) provides legal strategy and acts as the lawyer in their mock trials. Also, he’s Bull’s former brother-in-law and the closest thing Bull has to a friend."

Geneva Carr plays psychologist Marissa, a "neurolinguistics expert and licensed sex therapist working on Dr. Bull’s team," and Chris Jackson (Tracers) portrays Chunk, a "stylist on the team who helps prepare defendants for trial and a former All-American lineman."

CBS Wednesday announced that NCIS's 13th-season finale, expected to include Weatherly's departure, is scheduled for May 17.