The Canceled Shows of Tomorrow: Pilot Season

[Sawyer]

Pilots in development for 2011-2012:

Fall 2011-12 development: Will remakes of 'True Lies' or 'The Munsters' become great hits? Are you ready for a new take on Sherlock Holmes?
by Lynette Rice

Each year, the five broadcast networks develop hundreds of scripted dramas and comedies in hopes they’ll become the next NCIS and Desperate Housewives, or the latest Modern Family and The Big Bang Theory. And like every year, a great deal of them are not worth mentioning here — mostly because they involve the bland types of cops, lawyers, and doctors who you’ve already seen fighting crime or sneaking a kiss on the way to the ER.

But fascinating projects continue to pass the first smell test at the broadcast networks. The key is whether the suits take them to the next step and order them to pilot, which the networks then use in late April and early May to decide what should go the distance come fall of 2011. We’ve singled out some of the more provocative scripts that have been purchased in the last few months — and ones we hope the nets will take a gamble on and at least order to pilot. (We’ve also noted in bold what has already made the cut.)

We’ll update this as the development season goes on with dramas and comedies that have been ordered to pilot.

CBS

Carol Mendelsohn project. Based on the Jane Whitefield novels by Thomas Perry about a one-woman witness protection program (drama, script).

Jason Alexander detective project (Alexander, Simon Davis Barry). A former TV star works for his ex-wife’s detective agency when he’s down and out (drama, script).

Desperado (Kyle Ward, Anthony Zuiker). A modern-day western crime drama set in Texas (drama, script).

Siringo (Trey Callaway). Based on the life of cowboy Charlie Siringo, who caught crooks in the late 1800s (drama, script)

Female police chief drama (Carl Beverly, Gary Lennon). Chronicles first female Chief of Police in Newark, N.J. (drama, script).

The Wild Wild West (Ron Moore, Naren Shankar). Update of the old western that aired on CBS (drama, script).

Treadstone (John Glenn, Anthony Zuiker). Based on Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne series of novels about a group of spies working for the Treadstone Corp. (drama, script)

Real estate comedy (Rob Riggle, Robert Smigel). A real estate agent ends up working for the guy he made fun of in his youth (comedy, script).

Colin Cowherd radio comedy (Bill Martin, Mike Schiff, Cowherd). Comedy based on the life of ESPN radio host Colin Cowherd (comedy, script).

Dear Girls Above Me (Jason Goldberg, Ashton Kutcher). Based on a Twitter feed from a man who recounts what he hears from the girls who live above him (comedy, script).

ABC

Untitled Shonda Rhimes project (Rhimes, Betsy Beers). Revolves around the life and work of a professional fixer and her dysfunctional staff. The character is based on the career of Judy Smith, a crisis management consultant who has guided corporations, politicians, and public figures over the last 20 years (drama, pilot).

Alive in Necropolis (David H. Goodman). Cops hunt alive — and dead — criminals (drama, pilot).

Romeo & Juliet (Andrea Berloff). A look at the love story of Romeo and Juliet, as well as the events occurring during the Renaissance (drama, script).

Being Erica (Maggie Friedman). An adaptation of the Canadian series with the same name (drama, script).

True Lies (René Echevarria). Based on the 1994 feature film, True Lies, directed by James Cameron (drama, script).

Long Gray Line (Gideon Yago). Drama set in the world of West Point (drama, script).

Baker Street Letters (Nicholas Wootton). Two brothers rent Sherlock Holmes’ old office space and respond to letters that still come to the dead sleuth (drama, script).

Nannyland (Ann Blanchard, Alexa Junge, Jennifer Lopez). Three nannies working for three different branches of a Los Angeles family (dramedy, script).

Awkward Family Photos (Mike Bender, Doug Chernack). Based on book and website featuring really awkward but hilarious old photos (comedy, script).

Carlos Mencia project (Mitchel Katlin, Nat Bernstein). Show based on Mencia’s large immigrant family (comedy, script).

Cedric the Entertainer project (Al Higgins, Devon Shepherd). A retired baseball player gets a job as a radio host (comedy, script).

Gynecology project (Hunter Bell, Jeff Bowen, Marc Cherry). Two brothers, one gay and one straight, open up a practice for women (comedy, script).

Supermom comedy (Laura House, Stu Bloomberg, Barry Sonnenfeld). A frazzled mom finds a suit that gives her superpowers (comedy, script).

Damon Wayans project (Don Reo). A model father on TV is very different at home (comedy, script).

Alan Menken/Marco Pennette/David Zippel project. Young musicians live with one another while trying to start their careers (musical comedy, script).

Fox

Alcatraz (J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk, Liz Sarnoff). Revolves around Alcatraz Island and notorious criminals housed there (drama, pilot).

Will Smith crime drama (James Lassiter, Will Smith, Eva Jin). A female college student fights crimes in China (drama, script).

Full Nelson (Jeffrey Lieber). Focuses on a woman’s rise in the music industry in the 1980s (drama, script).

Hitch (Pete Chiarelli). Adaptation of the feature film that starred Will Smith (drama, script)

Smokers (Brian Vaughan). A documentary crew follows a group of heroes who eliminate alien threats in space (drama, script).

The Council of Dads. Based on the memoir about a man with cancer who lures a group of friends to supervise his daughters if he dies (comedy, pilot).

Tiny Monsters (Alexandra Rushfield) An animated show about a group of mean girls in junior high (comedy, script).

NBC

17th Precinct (Ron Moore). World ruled by magic, not science (drama, pilot).

Playboy (Chad Hodge). Set in the 1960s, the drama takes a look at the lives of Playboy bunnies (drama, pilot).

Echelon (Michael Gordon). About a team called GHOST (Global Hierarchical Observation Strategy Taskforce) that investigates the paranormal (drama, script).

The Munsters (Bryan Fuller). A modern-day take on the old CBS comedy (dramedy, script).

Rest (Philip Levens). Based on the comic book series Rest by Milo Ventimiglia and Russ Cundiff about a workaholic who enrolls in a drug trial which eliminates the need for sleep (drama, script).

S.A.N.D. (Craig Titley). A squad called the Sleep and Nightmare division enter peoples’ dreams to tackle their nightmares (drama, script).

Are you there, Vodka? It’s me, Chelsea (Chelsea Handler, Tom Werner, Dottie Dartland Zicklin, Julie Larsen). Based on Handler’s best-selling memoir (comedy, pilot).

Ghost Angeles (Henry Alonzo Myers, Josh Schwartz) A young woman speaks to dead people who help her (comedy, pilot).

A Lot Like Us (Scot Armstrong, Ravi Nandan, Liz Feldman). A lesbian couple expecting a baby lives with the donor (comedy, script).

Emerald City (Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins). Re-imagining of the The Wizard of Oz, set in Gotham (comedy, script).

Guardians (Carlos Jacott, Ajay Sahgal) Guardian angels disguised as Starbucks baristas help customers (comedy, script).

My Life as an Experiment (A.J. Jacobs). Comedy based on A. J. Jacobs’ self improvement projects (comedy, script).

CW

Acting Out (Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Todd Graff). Musical and dancing dramedy explores relationships of counselors and staff of a down-on-its-luck summer camp (dramedy, script).

Hawkshaw (David Loughery, Samuel L. Jackson, Amanda Tracey). Sexy, mysterious 20-something doesn’t know his true identity but believes he is a detective and possible descendant of Sherlock Holmes who starts solving crimes (drama, script).

The Prickly Spheres (Rich Frank, Jeff Kwatinetz, Matt Goldman). Extremely talented teen forgoes classical music scholarship to Julliard and joins a new indie alternative rock band in Minneapolis (drama, script).

Raven (Diego Gutierrez). Based upon the DC Comics character, the daughter of a human and a devil with abilities to read emotions and divine secrets, Raven fights crime — as well as the darkness in her own soul (drama, script).

http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/01/05/fall-2011-12-development-jj-abrams-the-munsters/

Only ones that sound interesting to me are the Munsters and Wild Wild West remakes, Treadstone, Alcatraz, Smokers, 17th Precinct, Emerald City, Raven and Henshaw.

 

[Hunter Rider]

CBS

Desperado (Kyle Ward, Anthony Zuiker). A modern-day western crime drama set in Texas (drama, script).

Treadstone (John Glenn, Anthony Zuiker). Based on Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne series of novels about a group of spies working for the Treadstone Corp. (drama, script)

ABC

Alive in Necropolis (David H. Goodman). Cops hunt alive — and dead — criminals (drama, pilot).

True Lies (René Echevarria). Based on the 1994 feature film, True Lies, directed by James Cameron (drama, script).

Long Gray Line (Gideon Yago). Drama set in the world of West Point (drama, script).

Baker Street Letters (Nicholas Wootton). Two brothers rent Sherlock Holmes’ old office space and respond to letters that still come to the dead sleuth (drama, script).

Fox

Alcatraz (J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk, Liz Sarnoff). Revolves around Alcatraz Island and notorious criminals housed there (drama, pilot).

Will Smith crime drama (James Lassiter, Will Smith, Eva Jin). A female college student fights crimes in China (drama, script).

From the in development list, these are the ones I'll give a try.

 

[Thread Manager]

This is a continuation thread, the old thread is [split]333231[/split]

 

[Shifty]

Any news on scripts ordered, roles cast and pick ups later in the year for the networks and cable channels. Here are some pilot orders:

NBC

Stuck in fourth place and now free of Leno taking five hours of real estate NBC looks to slowly climb back this fall with their best development in a while. Granted two are "remakes" and there is potentially another Law & Order spinoff, but overall it still sounds better than Mercy, Trauma, Celebrity Apprentice, five nights of The Jay Leno Show and two hours of Dateline.

On the drama side, "Prime Suspect" is based on the award-winning BBC series centering on a courageous female detective who investigates complex mysteries in a politically explosive big city. Casting will be announced later. The pilot is produced by Universal Media Studios and ITV. Hank Steinberg ("Without a Trace") and Erwin Stoff ("The Blind Side") are the executive producers.

In "The Rockford Files," the successful NBC drama from the 1970s is re-imagined by executive producers David Shore ("House") and Steve Carell (NBC's "The Office"). The title character, Jim Rockford, remains a roguish private eye who tackles the dangerous, quirky and unpredictable cases that no other detective wants to handle. The pilot is from Universal Media Studios and Carousel Productions.

"The Event" is a thriller with a unique storytelling device that features multiple points of view concerning a decent, regular fellow who battles against mysterious circumstances that envelope a larger conspiracy. Universal Media Studios produces the pilot that includes Steve Stark ("Medium") as the executive producer; Nick Wauters ("The 4400") is the co-executive producer/writer. Casting will be announced later.

In "Undercovers," a domesticated husband and wife return from years in retirement and are re-activated as CIA agents. As they work together for the first time on new cases, they discover new aspects from their past - even as they re-ignite their passion for each other. J.J. Abrams ("Lost," the 2009 feature film "Star Trek"), Bryan Burk ("Lost," "Star Trek") and Josh Reims ("Dirty Sexy Money") are the executive producers; Abrams and Reims are the writers. The pilot is produced by Warner Bros. Television and Bad Robot Productions.

"Chase" is a new action-procedural drama from Emmy Award-winning executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer (the "CSI" franchise, "The Amazing Race," "The Pirates of the Caribbean" feature films). "Chase," based on a real-life group and set in the American Southwest, follows a crucial fugitive apprehension team comprised of U.S. Marshals that tracks down the nation's most notorious criminals. Tension builds as the cat-and-mouse game of the ultimate search escalates in each episode. The series is from Warner Bros. Television and Jerry Bruckheimer Television. Joining Bruckheimer as executive producers are Jennifer Johnson ("Cold Case") and Jonathan Littman ("CSI," "Cold Case").

"Kindreds," created by Emmy Award winner David E. Kelley ("Boston Legal," "The Practice," "L.A. Law"), follows a curmudgeonly ex-patent lawyer and his group of misfit associates as their lives come together to form an unconventional kind of law practice. The series is from Warner Bros. Television and David E. Kelley Productions. Kelley is the writer and executive producer.

"Love Bites" is an hour-long romantic comedy produced by Universal Media Studios and Working Title Films. Writer Cindy Chupack ("Sex in the City," "Everybody Loves Raymond"), Timothy Bevan & Eric Fellner (both for "Love Actually," "Bridget Jones' Diary") and Shelley McCrory are the executive producers. Casting and producer credits will be announced later.

Among the comedies is the Adam Carolla comedy project that features the humorous radio and TV personality Carolla ("The Man Show," "The Hammer") as a contractor who sets out to re-build his life following a divorce. The pilot is produced by Universal Media Studios and BermanBraun. The executive producers are Carolla, Kevin Hench (The Hammer"), Jon Pollack (NBC's "30 Rock"), Jimmy Kimmel ("The Jimmy Kimmel Show"), Gail Berman (NBC's "Mercy"), Lloyd Braun (NBC's "Mercy"), Daniel Kellison ("The Jimmy Kimmel Show," "The Man Show") and James Dixon ("Ace in the Hole").

With CBS only having weak spots on Sundays, Fridays and their comedies on Wednesdays there really isn't much room for new shows, NBC will be full of them this fall. Chuck Lorre has the two top rated comedies on television so his new show could find a home on Mondays.

MIKE & MOLLY - "Two and a Half Men" and "The Big Bang Theory" mastermind Chuck Lorre has landed another multi-camera project at the Eye. He'll executive produce the half-hour, which revolves around "a couple who struggle with overeating and meet at Overeaters Anonymous." Mark Roberts penned the Warner Bros. Television-based project, which has a pilot commitment. Roberts then will executive produce alongside Lorre.

OPEN BOOKS - Gail Lerner ("Will & Grace") has scored a pilot order from the Eye for a new multi-camera comedy which "revolves around book editor June and her circle of friends." It's understood the project is semi-autobiographical - Lerner spent time as a temp in the publishing world at the beginning of her career while her sister worked as a book editor for 15 years. Warner Bros. Television is behind the half-hour, which Lerner wrote on spec.

TRUE LOVE - Matt Tarses has landed a pilot commitment from the Eye for a new comedy about "four people in their 20s in New York looking for love." The multi-camera half-hour comes from Sony Pictures Television, where Tarses will write and executive produce alongside his studio-based sister Jamie Tarses.

CRIMINAL MINDS SPINOFF - Entertainment Weekly has revealed casting breakdowns for the show's much-ballyhooed spin-off. Said group is detailed as follows: Cooper ("the B-team's leader, a middle-aged alpha male who's as loyal to his team as he is sketchy about his past"), Gina ("escaped the mean streets of Baltimore, only to wind up being sent back to them as an undercover agent"), Mick ("ex-British Special Forces operative, a sniper who's as good with words as he is with a firearm") and Prophet ("a born-again African-American ex-con who's eager to clean the slate he so completely filled pre-prison.") An upcoming episode of the parent series will serve as a backdoor pilot for the spin-off.

MTV's

TEEN WOLF Newcomers Tyler Posey, Tyler Hoechlin, Crystal Reed and Dylan O'Brien are the first to be cast in the drama pilot, a reinvention of the 1985 movie of the same name. Posey will play the title character, Scott McCall, "a dorky high-school student who gets a rush of new powers, including the ability to attract girls, after a wolf attack." O'Brien then is set as Scott's best friend "who is initially dismissive of Scott's theory that he was bitten by a wolf but then begins research on human-werewolf transformation" with Reed as "a sweet new girl at school who is immediately smitten with Scott" and Hoechlin as "a handsome local boy who in fact is a vicious and predatory werewolf capable of great harm." Jeff Davis is behind the pilot presentation, which is also executive produced by Marty Adelstein and Rene Echevarria.

A&E

THE QUICKENING - Jeffrey Nordling ("Desperate Housewives"), John Heard ("Southland") and Michael Arden ("Kings") have all joined the cast of the drama pilot, about a homicide detective demoted to a desk job after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Radha Mitchell was previously cast in the lead role of Maggie Bird. Nordling will play her former partner, "an ex-cop who left the force to run a detective agency after Maggie took a bullet for him and saved his life," with Arden as "an enthusiastic doctor assigned Maggie's evaluation" and Heard as Maggie's boss. Jennifer Salt is behind the hour, which comes from Fox Television Studios.

SUGARLOAF - Matt Passmore (FOX's "Masterwork") is set to topline a new drama pilot for the cable channel about "an ex-Chicago cop who gets kicked off the force after being shot by his ex-captain, who wrongfully accused him in having an affair with his wife." Passmore will play said role, Jim Longworth, "an observant detective with a sly sense of humor, [who] moves to a small Florida town and joins the state police." Clifton Campbell penned the hour and is executive producing with Gary Randall for Fox Television Studios. Peter O'Fallon is attached to direct.

ABC

Titled "187 Detroit," the pilot marks ABC's first drama pickup that will be in the running for next season. "Detroit" is shot in the style of a fictional documentary crew following a top homicide division and has a realistic yet sometimes humorous tone.

SHOWTIME

IT'S A BIG YES FOR THE BIG 'C' - SHOWTIME Picks Up New Original Comedy Series Starring Laura Linney

LOS ANGELES, CA (January 8, 2010) Three-time Academy Award nominee, three-time Emmy winner, and SAG and Golden Globe Award winner Laura Linney comes to series television on SHOWTIME as star and executive producer of the provocative new half-hour original dark comedy series, THE BIG 'C' (working title). Linney plays a reserved suburban wife and mother whose recent cancer diagnosis forces her to shake up her life and find hope, humor and the light side of a dark situation, while managing her immature but well-meaning husband, played by Oliver Platt. THE BIG 'C' will begin shooting 13 episodes later this spring for a fall 2010 debut, it was announced today by SHOWTIME President of Entertainment Robert Greenblatt.

SHAMELESS - Emmy Rossum, Allison Janney and Justin Chatwin have all landed roles on the pay channel's import of the veteran U.K. drama about the Gallaghers, "a working-class Chicago clan dealing with the recession." The previously cast William H. Macy plays the patriarch of said family who "usually ends up passed out on the living room floor, so their smart but unpredictable 18-year-old daughter Fiona (Rossum) is tasked with keeping her five younger brothers and sisters on the straight and narrow." Chatwin then is set as Steve, "a car thief who falls in love with Fiona," with Janney in the recurring role of "a pivotal character that will become a love interest for Macy." Mark Mylod is directing the Warner Bros. Television-based pilot from a script by Paul Abbott and John Wells.

Credit goes to The Futon Critic

 

[BlackLantern]

I'm probably going to check out Mr. Sunshine....Ive always liked Perry and the hot chick from Better Off Ted is in it as well

 

[Sawyer]

I'd probably give Mr Sunshine a look too. Aside from Kudrow, Perry's the only one of the Friends bunch that I'd want to see get a series.

 

[BlackLantern]

watched 'The Whole Nine Yards' yesterday....he is hilarious...especially in the beginning, he drives the car halfway down the driveway and just proceeds to freak out about how ****** his life is

 

[Assassin]

Minka Kelly was cast in charlies angels, might be the only reason to watch it

 

[BlackLantern]

Universal HD shows the original series and.....yea its pretty damn fluffy...i don't see why McG gets crap for the movies when the original is pretty damn cheesy/corny as well

girls are still hot though

 

[Sawyer]

I was planning to watch even before Minka Kelly got cast, but that's certainly a plus. Hopefully, as a remake, it's more Hawaii Five-0 than Bionic Woman.

 

[TheVileOne]

McG got crap because the movies were overdone ridiculous pop garbage.

 

[BlackLantern]

and the original show wasn't??

....the episode where Bosley is dressed as a Priest and the girls are his "followers" or how bout the one where the girls go undercover as stewardesses on a private airline for rich folk

 

[TheVileOne]

The show was cheesy but the movie was inconcievable.

Way too many gaggy and gimmicky gags in there they don't earn.

 

[BlackLantern]

how does one "earn" something like that?

 

[Shifty]

I'd probably give Mr Sunshine a look too. Aside from Kudrow, Perry's the only one of the Friends bunch that I'd want to see get a series.

[YT]7XPzDi9PcRQ[/YT]

 

[Jennifer Walters]

Yeah. I never got the complaints about the Charlie's Angels movie. The show was a over the top cheesy mess and the movies were too.

 

[wiegeabo]

I didn't mind the first CA movie. It was dumb. But action dumb.

I could only stand a few minutes of the second.

 

[Assassin]

it could be a remake of ghost busters where it's about hunting down elephants and i would prob watch it if it had minka kelly in the stuff charlies angels used to wear back in the day.

 

[BlackLantern]

http://www.deadline.com/2011/01/the...jordana-brewster-cast-as-lead-in-tnts-reboot/

Jordana Brewster joining TNTs 'Dallas'

 

[Sawyer]

http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/01/31/raven-symone-abc/

ABC Family orders three shows, including Raven-Symoné's 'Georgia'
by James Hibberd

ABC Family has picked up three new series, including The Great State of Georgia starring Raven-Symone.

Georgia is a half-hour comedy based on a feature film of the same name. It stars Raven-Symone as an “aspiring actress with a larger than life personality” who, along with her science geek best friend (Majandra Delfino), try to make headway in New York City.

The two other shows after the jump…

– Switched at Birth starring newcomer Katie Leclerc is a one-hour scripted drama, tells the story of two teenage girls who discover they were accidentally switched as newborns in the hospital: “Bay Kennish grew up in a wealthy family with two parents and a brother, while Daphne Vasquez, who lost her hearing at an early age due to a case of meningitis, grew up with a single mother in a poor neighborhood.”

– The Nine Lives of Chloe King is a one-hour drama starring Skyler Samuels (The Gates) as a girl who “starts developing heightened abilities and discovers she’s being pursued by a mysterious figure. Chloe soon learns she’s part of an ancient race which has been hunted by human assassins for millennia — and that she may be their only hope for ultimate survival.”

Each show has been picked up for 10 episodes.

The Nine Lives of Chloe King sounds semi-interesting. Which, of course, means that ABC Family will cancel it after a season because thats what they do with all their shows that are better written than Secret Lives of the American Teenager.

 

[Assassin]

Detroit 187 finally coming back tomorrow

 

[Prison Mike]

Switched at Birth sounds interesting.

 

[Specter313]

Nerd-favorite actress Kristen Bell is returning to television in a Showtime pilot called House of Lies.

TVLine and Inside TV report that Bell, the former star of Veronica Mars, will join Don Cheadle (Iron Man 2) in the half-hour dark comedy based on Martin Kihn’s 2005 memoir House of Lies: How Management Consultants Steal Your Watch and Tell You the Time.

Cheadle stars as Marty, a cutthroat consultant who’ll use any means necessary to get his clients the information they want. Bell will play Jeannie Van Der Hooven, a razor-sharp, Ivy-League graduate who works at Marty’s firm. Other cast members include Dawn Oliveri (Heroes), Josh Lawson (Romantically Challenged) and Ben Schwartz (Undercovers) as Marty’s corporate team, Glynn Turman (In Treatment) as Marty’s psychoanalyst father, and Donis Leonard Jr. (The Fresh Beat Band) as Marty’s young son.

Matthew Carnahan (Dirt) is writer and executive producer. Stephen Hopkins (Californication, 24) will direct the pilot.

Bell, who had a recurring role on Heroes and provides the voice of the narrator on Gossip Girl, next appears in Scream 4, which opens on April 15.

http://spinoff.comicbookresources.c...eturn-to-tv-in-showtime-comedy-house-of-lies/

 

[Prison Mike]

I hope we see Bell's boobs. It's Showtime!

 

[BlackLantern]

home of the L word, Californication

there better be some breasticles