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Posts tagged as “Behind the Scenes”

Coming and going

Pilots keep on comin’!

Good Girls is a CBS pilot comedy around two women trying to reinvent themselves with other childhood friends. The pilot was penned by The New Adventures of Old Christine‘s Sherry Bilsing-Graham and Ellen Kreamer.
At ABC, we have an untitled comedy, written by Dream On‘s Jeff Strauss, focusing on marriage and parenthood through three couples’ POV.
NBC has an untitled comedy (yes, again) by Less Than Perfect‘s Justin Adler, this time around the ’89 movie Parenthood with adult siblings.

A bit of casting news regarding previously picked up pilots:
ABC’s Happy Town will have Lauren German as its suspicious new inhabitant.
The still-untitled CBS procedural around Manhattan prosecutors will star Jericho‘s Lennie James as a former Assistant to the District Attorney.

Meanwhile, 24‘s Jon Cassar will shoot CBS’ Washington Field and Michael Fresco will direct the unnamed ABC-Hemingson dramedy pilot.
NBC’s Mercy will be shot by 30 Rock‘s Adam Bernstein

And there’s gonna be a sixth season for FX’s Rescue Me (the fifth one premieres April 7 remember).

I also have some amazing news for you guys: E! has ordered a sublime reality project named Hot Girls in Scary Places.
The title says it all.
Yes, really.

Adapted and continued

Let’s continue to keep tabs on this year’s pilots.

Two new CBS pilots:
Richard Murphy has adapted for TV his own book, Confessions of a Contractor, about an L.A. contractor. The series will be exec by Shawn Ryan.

There’s also another medical drama for the net (the third medic pilot for now), The Eastmans, written by Side Order of Life‘s Margaret Nagle. The show focuses on a family of doctors.

Four new ones over at ABC:
Planet Lucky, by Gaby Allan and adapted from Fiona Neill’s Slummy Mummy, tells the story of a woman who gave up a prominent professional career to be a housewife, raising her three kids.
So is Linette leaving Desperate Housewives?

Cedric the Entertainer may have his own show, as ABC just ordered to pilot Bob Fisher’s The Law, starring Cedric, and focusing on LAPD weekend cops and their off-duty lives.

There is also Canned, written by Desperate Housewives/Reaper‘s Kevin Etten, about a group of friends all getting fired on the same day.
So….What then?

An untitled Anita Renfroe show is also going to pilot and puts to screen the saying that family comes first. The pilot was penned by Robert Hanning and Courting Alex‘s Amy Welsh.

Two go-aheads as well for Bill Lawrence’s Cougartwon with Cox, and Everybody Loves Raymond‘s Tucker Cawley comedy pilot starring Kelsey Grammer.

On the pilot-director front, we have The West Wing‘s Alex Graves shooting NBC’s Day One.
ABC’s Inside the Box will be directed by NYPD Blue‘s Mark Tinker, and Happy Town by October Road‘s Gary Fleder.
My Name is Earl‘s Marc Buckland will direct the still-unnamed Tad Quill comedy pilot.

Crème de la crème

A few new stuff announced in the last couple of days.

First up, some HBO stuff.
The cable net has renewed The United States of Tara for a second season.

Continuing on pilot season, Boardwalk Empire keeps on casting peeps, with the addition of Aleksa Palladino, Brotherhood‘s Paul Sparks, Pride and Glory‘s Shea Whigham and Anthony Laciura.
David Simon’s new HBO drama, Treme, has also another casting announcement, with Rob Brown joining the cast (in addition to The Wire‘s Clarke Peters).

Let’s not forget our usual “adaptations”, with this time ABC offering us the remake of a recent ITV show named No Heroics about the “normal lives” of lame superheroes. The pilot was co-wrote by Desperate Housewives‘ Jeff Greenstein and the original creator of the show, Drew Pearce.

Over at NBC, we have Community, written by The Sarah Silverman Program‘s Dan Harmon, about a loser joining community college just for kicks.

FX has also its fair share of greenlighting, with two new pilots.

First, Lights Out, centered around a former heavyweight boxing champion with pugilistic dementia (a disorder slowly leading to complete memory loss) struggling to support his family, including his wife, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon. The boxer is also forced to become a debt enforcer.
The pilot was co-written by The Bucket List‘s Justin Zackham and Phillip Noyce and the show described as more family-centered à la Sopranos than The Shield.
And, no, it’s not gonna be re-named The Boxer.

There’s also another pilot in town, a yet-unamed show based on Elmore Leonard’s Fire in the Hole and adapted to screen by Raines/Boomtown‘s creator, Graham Yost, about Raylan Givens’ life as a Kentucky U.S. Marshal with his ex-wife, dying father, and cases. The pilot will be shot by Sons of Anarchy/The Beast‘s Michael Dinner.

And last but far from least, two new major cast announcements regarding some FOX pilots:
Fringe‘s Mark Valley will be playing the male lead in Human Target.
Crossing Jordan‘s Kathryn Hahn will play Eddie in the Absolutely Fabulous remake next to Kristen Johnston’s Patsy.