2011-2012 Pilots

[Toups]

ABC: Man Up

The ABC Studios/Tagline-produced Man Up stems from writer-actor [Chris] Moynihan's two-script deal with the studio. In addition to writing and executive producing, Moynihan is set to co-star in the project, a look at what it takes to survive as a modern man, as told through the eyes of three best friends and the women in their lives. Also executive producing are Tagline's Ron West and Kelly Kulchak. Moynihan is with Rothman Brecher and Thruline.

[Toups]

ABC: Smothered

The Warner Bros. TV-produced Smothered is based on [Andrew]Reich and [Ted]Cohen's real-life experiences and centers on a young couple who find themselves smothered by their two very different sets of parents whose only thing in common is that their children are married to each other. Reich and Cohen are with WME.

[Toups]

ABC: Suburgatory

ABC has given the green light to comedy pilot Suburgatory, from writer/executive producer Emily Kapnek and Warner Bros. TV. The single-camera project is described as a satirical look at life in the suburbs and centers on a quintessentially New York City girl who moves to a cookie-cutter community only to discover that life in the ‘burbs is more frightening than any horror movie that she’s ever seen. From the network: "tonally, this is a heightened view of suburbia with a cinematic quality that evokes the scope and horror of perfection."

[Toups]

ABC: Charlie's Angels

ABC's reboot of Charlie's Angels is already deep into a director and cast search, so a formal pilot pickup has been, well, a formality. It came this morning. The remake of the 1970s series, described as a modern take on the Angels set in Miami, hails from Sony Pictures TV and Drew Barrymore's Flower Films. Alfred Gough and Miles Miller penned the script and are executive producing with with Leonard Goldberg, executive producer of the original series, Barrymore and Nancy Juvonen.

[Toups]

ABC: Grace

[Krista] Vernoff's Grace, which she executive produces with Carrie Ann Inaba, is a dysfunctional family drama set in the world of professional dance.

[Toups]

ABC: Partners

Ed Bernero's Partners is a police drama centered on two female police detectives who are fiercely loyal to one another since they’re also secretly sisters.

[Toups]

ABC: Scandal

ABC has ordered its first pilot this development season, and fittingly, it is from the network's most prolific writer-producer Shonda Rhimes. [scandal], about the life and work of a professional fixer and her dysfunctional staff, is based on the career of famous PR guru and crisis management consultant Judy Smith. It was written by Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice creator Rhimes, her first pilot script since the two-hour May 2007 Grey's Anatomy episode that served as backdoor pilot for spinoff Private Practice. It was a quick turnaround for the new project, which hails from ABC Studios and Rhimes' studio-based Shondaland banner. ABC brass read Rhimes' script on Thursday and 24 hours later, they greenlit it to pilot. The early order comes weeks before the traditional start of the broadcast networks' pilot pickup season. ICM-repped Rhimes will executive produce with her Shondaland partner, UTA-repped Betsy Beers. Judy Smith will serve as a co-executive producer and a technical consultant.

[Toups]

FOX: I Hate My Teenage Daughter

At Fox's TCA session yesterday, entertainment president Kevin Reilly noted that the network is not giving up on multicamera comedy, and its first comedy pilot order this season will go to a traditional sitcom. That is now a reality - Fox has just closed a deal to greenlight I Hate My Teenage Daughter, from Warner Bros. TV and writers/executive producers Sherry Bilsing-Graham and Ellen Kreamer. It centers on two women who now have daughters just like the girls who picked on them in high school. Veteran sitcom helmer Andy Ackerman is attached to direct.

[Toups]

FOX: Iceland

The project that has been officially picked up is Iceland, a singe-camera comedy from writer-executive producer Andy Bobrow about a deceased fiance.

[Toups]

FOX: Tagged

The project whose pickup is still being worked out is Tagged, from writers-executive producers David Guarascio and Moses Port. The hybrid comedy, which Sony TV is co-producing with Reveille, is a workplace ensemble comedy set at the Los Angeles County's coroner's office that is loosely based on Shiya Robowsky's life. Also executive producing the project are Carolyn Bernstein, Howard Owens, Todd Cohen.

[Toups]

FOX: Little In Common

Veronica Mars creator and Party Down co-creator Rob Thomas has set up a second broadcast project, this time at Fox. Thomas will be writing the single-camera comedy titled Little In Common, which is about three families whose lives have become intertwined through youth sports. The project, which has received a script commitment, is in second position to Temp, a comedy that Thomas is co-writing with fellow Party Down co-creators John Enbom and Dan Etheridge for NBC. Both shows are produced by Warner Bros. TV. Thomas is executive producing Little In Common with frequent collaborators Danielle Stokdyk, Jennifer Gwartz and Etheridge who all worked with him on UPN's Veronica Mars, ABC's Cupid and Starz's Party Down and are also executive producing Temp with him.

[Toups]

FOX: Outnumbered

Fox is taking a second stab at launching a U.S. version of the British comedy series Outnumbered. The network has handed out an off-cycle pilot order to the single-camera comedy from writers Barbara Wallace and Thomas R. Wolfe. It's being produced by 20th TV, Chernin Entertainment, and Hat Trick Prods, the British company behind the original series created by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin. Inspired by the BBC sitcom, Outnumbered revolves around one set of parents who are often overwhelmed by their three children. Wallace and Wolfe executive produce with Peter Chernin, Katherine Pope and Jimmy Mulville.Fox, whose own hit single-camera comedy Malcolm In the Middle had a similar premise, first tried to adapt Outnumbered during the 2007-08 development season when the project was picked up to pilot written by Larry Levin and produced by MRC and Hat Trick. The pilot starring Ken Marino and Brooke Bloom didn’t go to series. Since then, ABC successfully launched a documentary-style single-camera family comedy, last season's hit Modern Family. Like Modern Family, the British Outnumbered has a mocumentary feel as it is semi-improvised and the kids’ lines are generally not scripted. Fox is launching a single-camera family comedy this fall, Greg Garcia’s Raising Hope, which, like Outnumbered, was originally ordered as a pilot off-cycle last summer.

[Toups]

FOX: Alcatraz

The network that gave us Prison Break is heading back to prison. Fox has picked up Alcatraz, the J.J. Abrams produced drama about the San Francisco Bay island. The project, which was written on spec and recently taken out to the networks, has received a pilot commitment by Fox which is already in business with Abrams on sci-fi drama Fringe. Alcatraz is described as "a show about mysteries, secrets and the most infamous prison of all time: Alcatraz." Lost executive producer Elizabeth Sarnoff penned the final script, while Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt (Kyle XY) wrote earlier versions. All 3 are credited as writers on the pilot. Sarnoff will serve as showrunner and will executive produce with Abrams and Bryan Burk. Lilien and Wynbrandt will co-executive produce. Abrams' Bad Robot Prods is producing with Warner Bros TV.

[Toups]

FOX: Exit Strategy

Fox has handed a pilot order to the Ethan Hawke-starring drama Exit Strategy. Antoine Fuqua, who directed Hawke in his Oscar nominated performance in Training Day, is on board to direct the pilot, from 20th Century Fox TV and Kurtzman and Orci's 20th TV-based K.O. Paper Products. Exit Strategy, which is being written by David Guggenheim (Safe House), was originally set up at Fox in September with a put pilot commitment. After months of discussions, Hawke came on board in December to star and produce. He, in turn, invited Fuqua to direct the pilot. In addition to Training Day, Fuqua directed Hawke in Brooklyn's Finest. Fuqua will also exec produce the pilot.

Described as a high octane procedural, Exit Strategy centers on a team of 5 experts associated with the CIA who are deployed when a CIA operation goes bad to extract the ones involved before it's too late. Hawke will play the team leader, the architect of exit strategy who also empathizes with the people they extract and would rather die than let them get hurt. Each episode will tackle a different crisis in a different country. Exit Strategy is envisioned as a potential successor to Fox's signature drama 24. Like 24, the action in Exit Strategy will also unfold in real-time. And like 24's Kiefer Sutherland, Hawke would segue from the feature world to take on the lead in Exit Strategy, his first series. Kurtzman, Orci and KOPP's Heather Kadin are executive producing the project, with Guggenheim co-executive producing. This is the second pilot order for Kurtzman and Orci this season. They're also behind Fox's Locke & Key.

[Toups]

FOX: Locke & Key

Locke & Key already had a series commitment attached to it. Now Fox has officially greenlighted a pilot from the Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci-produced project based on the graphic novel, which is eyed for a potential summer run. The Locke & Key adaptation, written by Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles creator Josh Friedman, is produced by 20th Century Fox TV, Kurtzman and Orci's 20th TV-based K.O. Paper Products and DreamWorks TV where the project originated on the feature side. Based on Joe Hill's comic published by IDW Publishing, Locke & Key tells the story of Nina Locke and her three children, Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode, who survive an unspeakable horror and attempt to rebuild their lives at Keyhouse, their family home in Lovecraft, Massachusetts. It is a mysterious New England mansion, with fantastic and transformative keys hidden inside its walls that are also being sought by a hate-filled and relentless creature with ties to the Locke family's past who will stop at nothing to accomplish his sinister goals. Friedman, who will serve as showrunner, executive produces with Kurtzman, Orci, K.O's Heather Kadin, DreamWorks TV's Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank as well as IDW CEO Ted Adams. This is the third off-cycle pilot order for Fox, which also recently greenlighted drama pilot Alcatraz and comedy pilot Outnumbered. Both Locke & Key and Alcatraz originated as sough-after pitches that landed at Fox in early September.