TV SALES
ABC made a monster splash today, greenlighting seven new shows to pilot, on what was a very busy day for TV. Here they are:
ABC has ordered a pilot for hourlong drama GEORGETOWN (pka INNER CIRCLE) from writer/exec producer Will Fetters. Series, which is also exec produced by Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage and Len Goldstein, centers on the young -next-generation of power brokers in Washington, DC.
ABC has handed out a pilot order to new drama IDENTITY from writer/exec producer John Glenn. Series, which is based on the Israel TV series of the same name, centers on an elite police unit formed to combat the explosion of identity-related crime. Mark Gordon, Deb Spera and Paul Buccieri also exec produce.
ABC has put in a pilot order for fantasy drama series ONCE UPON A TIME from writers/exec producers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. Series, which was developed with Damon Lindelof, centers on a woman with a troubled past who is drawn into a small town in Maine where the magic and mystery of Fairy Tales just may be real. Project hit the market October, 14th, 2010, and sold a few weeks later on October, 29th.
ABC has ordered a pilot for the new horror/drama adventure THE RIVER from writer/exec producer Michael Green. Series, which is also exec produced by Oren Peli , Jason Blum, Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey and Michael R. Perry, is pitched as being an on-going dramatic thriller about a famed TV adventurer who goes missing and is presumed dead somewhere deep inside the Amazon. The show will follow his friends and crew who set out down the river to look for him in a state-of-the-art research vessel. Originally sold September, 2010.
ABC has also extended a pilot order to HALLELUJAH from writer/exec producer Marc Cherry. Series, which will also be exec produced by Sabrina Wind, centers on the small town of Hallelujah, as it is hitting a crossroads of expansion, and the fight to stay small, as the town divides into cliques of good vs. evil, all coming together for song at the local church choir.
ABC has moved to pick up to pilot the new drama REVENGE (pka MONTE CRISTO) from writer/exec producer Mike Kelley. Series, which is also exec produced by Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen, is described as a modern day re-imagening of Alexandre Dumas, pere’s The Count of Monte Cristo. Project was snatched up just before everyone left for the holiday in December, 2010.
ABC has put up the budget to shoot a presentation pitch for new series GOOD CHRISTIAN BITCHES from writer/exec producer Robert Harling. Series, which is based on the book of the same name by Kim Gatlin, and is pitched as “Desperate Housewives in Dallas.” Series will center on a recently divorced mother of two, who moves back to the affluent Dallas neighborhood she grew up in, to “find herself”. Instead, she finds herself in the whirling midst of salacious gossip, Botox, and fraud. Aaron Kaplan and Darren Star also exec produce.
CW has readied their development slate for the next step in series creation, and handed out four more pilot orders to comedies today. Here they are:
CW has made, what may be a record “purchase date” to “pilot” ever by greenlighting the pilot for AWAKENING from writers/exec producers William Laurin and Glenn Davis. Series, which will also be exec produced by Howard T. Owens, Carolyn Bernstein and Todd Cohen, centers on two sisters who come of age and face off against one another amidst the beginning of a zombie uprising.
CW has also ordered up a pilot for drama series HEAVENLY from writer/exec producer Richard Hatem. Series, which Ross Fineman also exec produces, centers on a dedicated young female attorney and a former angel, turned human, who tackle cases together at the attorney’s legal aid clinic — she saves clients’ butts while he saves their souls.
CW has greenlit a pilot for new laugher HART OF DIXIE from writer/exec producer Leila Gerstein. Series, which is also exec produced by Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage and Len Goldstein, centers on a young New York City doctor who inherits a medical practice in a small Southern town inhabited by an eclectic and eccentric group of characters.
CW has also extended a pilot order to female-driven cop drama COOPER AND STONE from writer/exec producer Laurie Arent. Series centers on two smart young female detectives on Chicago’s North Side who are best friends, equally adept at discussing fashion, music, pop culture as they are solving homicides.
NBC has greenlit new single-cam comedy BENT from writer/exec producer Tad Quill. Series, which inhabits a romantic angle, centers a recently divorced “type A” single mother who tries hard not to fall for the sexy “surfer-dude” contractor she hires to re-do her kitchen.
NBC has also handed out a cast-contingent pilot order for new laugher, the UNTITLED EMILY SPIVEY COMEDY from writer/exec producer Emily Spivey. Series, which is also exec produced by Lorne Michaels, centers on a working mother, who never thought she’d be a mom, but now rasies her children along with her stay-at-home husband and her opinionated parents.
REELZ has finalized a deal to buy the much talked about mini-series THE KENNEDYS. Series will begin airing in April, 2011.
TV CANCELLATIONS
NBC says it is not exactly a cancellation, but it’s not looking good for THE CAPE, which has had its order of 13 episodes down to 10.
TV ATTACHMENTS
Jonathan Demme has signed on to make his TV-directing debut as he steps in to helm the supernatural pilot for the UNTITLED SUSANNAH GRANT DRAMA.
