Rueben's Ramblings

Every day this week, I have been focusing on the pilots being considered for the new fall TV season (2011-2012) by the major networks. The following list is just some of the dramas for which NBC is considering for possible pick-up for the fall:

Coming from the mastermind behind the Battlestar Galactica reboot, Ronald Moore, is the pilot called 17th Precinct. Set in the fictional town of Excelsior where magic and supernatural elements rule over science, BSG alum Jamie Bamber will play a homicide detective. Legendary actress Stockard Channing (The West Wing) will also star.

Set in the 1960’s, the pilot called Playboy will, of course, take a look at the lives of Playboy bunnies. Jenna Dewan-Tatum (Step Up), Amber Heard (Drive Angry), Naturi Naughton (Fame) and Tony winner Laura Benati will all play bunnies.

From Neil Meron and Craig Zadan (the men behind the recent film version of Chicago and Hairspray) are bringing musical theatre to the small screen – thanks to an idea from Steven Spielberg (yes, you read that right). The pilot called Smash will follow characters who come together to put on a Marilyn Monroe musical on Broadway. Debra Messing (Will & Grace), American Idol Season 5 runner-up Katharine McPhee and Broadway star Megan Hilty are part of the cast.

The 1970’s classic series Wonder Woman will attempt to make a comeback via the pilot from David E. Kelley, the man behind such shows as Ally McBeal and The Practice. Friday Night Lights actress Adrianne Palicki has been picked to take up the lasso and bracelets, portraying Wonder Woman aka Diana Prince, as she tries to balance her life as a vigilante crime fighter, a successful corporate executive and a modern woman.

Fairy tales will take center stage in the pilot from Executive Producer David Greenwalt (Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer). The pilot called Grimm is a dark but fantastical cop drama about a world in which characters inspired by Grimm’s Fairy Tales exist. David Giuntoli (Privileged and the box office movie Weather Girl) will play the lead while Silas Weir Mitchell (Prison Break) will play a reformed big bad wolf.

The hit British series Prime Suspect will be Americanized by Peter Berg (Executive Producer of Friday Night Lights) with Maria Bello (A History of Violence) playing the lead role of a female detective who has to deal with working in a tough New York precinct dominated by men while Toby Stephens (Die Another Day) will play her live-in boyfriend.

Kyle Killen, the man behind the short-lived FOX series Lone Star, brings the Inception-like pilot called REM to TV with Jason Isaacs (from the Harry Potter franchise and the TV series Brotherhood) in the lead role of a detective who cannot let go of any aspect of his fractured family after a horrible car accident.

NBC has about 5 or 6 other dramas up for consideration for the 2011-2012 season in addition to the pilots listed above. But, please keep in mind that very few will actually make it to series. As stated before, the final decision will be made by the powers that be at the network in late spring and announced in May at the New York upfront presentations.

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So far this week, I have provided a list of pilots that are being considered for the 2011-2012 TV season for CBS and ABC. Today’s list will be the most talked about pilots for FOX:

J.J. Abrams, the man behind Felicity, Alias and Lost, is bringing the pilot Alcatraz to FOX with the help of two of his Lost counterparts Bryan Burk and Liz Sarnoff. The story follows a cop and a team of FBI agents trying to track down a group of missing Alcatraz prisoners and guards who reappear in the present day after disappearing thirty years earlier. Among the cast are Santiago Cabrera (Heroes), Jorge Garcia (Lost), Sam Neill (Jurassic Park), Parminder Nagra (ER) and Paul McGillion (Stargate Atlantis).

The Bones spin-off, now being called The Finder, is based on The Locator books by Richard Greener and follows the story of a former military policeman who can find anything. The cast includes Geoff Stults (October Road), Michael Clarke Duncan and Saffron Burrows (Law & Order: Criminal Intent).

The men behind Hawaii Five-0 and the reimagined Star Trek – Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci – are bringing the Joe Hill graphic novel called Locke & Key to the air. Miranda Otto (Cashmere Mafia) will play the mother of three children (Skylar Gaertner, Sarah Bolger and Jesse McCartney), who moves to late husband’s family mansion in Massachusetts where supernatural activities reign. Nick Stahl (Carnivale) plays the kids’ uncle and Ksenia Solo (Life Unexpected and Lost Girl) also co-stars.

Kiefer Sutherland (24) will star in the pilot Touch from Tim Kring, the creator of the NBC series Heroes. While there aren’t a lot of details available on the storyline for this pilot except that it follows a father whose mute, autistic son develops the ability to tell the future, the big talk, of course, is that Sutherland will play the father.

Box office actor Ethan Hawke (Training Day) is set to star in Exit Strategy, which is about a team of experts who help the CIA with extractions. Megan Dodds from Detroit 1-8-7 also stars. This pilot is also from Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci.

FOX has at least four other dramas up for consideration for the 2011-2012 season in addition to those listed above. But, as I’ve stated all week, please keep in mind that very few will actually make it to series. Again, the final decision will be made by the powers that be at the network in late spring and announced in May at the New York upfront presentations.

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In an ongoing series of articles about all of the pilots that are being considered by the major networks for the 2011-2012 TV season, yesterday I provided a list of the most talked about pilots for CBS.

Here are just some of the bigger pilots from ABC:

In Crisis is the new non-medical based pilot from Shonda Rhimes, the woman behind Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice. This pilot is to follow a professional fixer and her dysfunctional staff that includes box office actors Kerry Washington (Ray) and Columbus Short (Stomp the Yard) as well as Lost alum Henry Ian Cusick.

A Charlie’s Angels remake is being done by Drew Barrymore and her partner Nancy Juvonen with Minka Kelly (Friday Night Lights), Rachael Taylor (Transformers) and Annie Ilonzeh (General Hospital) as the angels; Ramon Rodriguez (Transformers 2) as Bosley and reportedly Robert Wagner supplying the voice of Charlie.

Ed Bernero, the show runner behind Criminal Minds, has a pilot called Partners ready to go for the network with Annie Wersching (24) and Scottie Thompson (NCIS and Trauma) starring as two police detectives who are fiercely loyal to one another since they’re also secretly sisters.

The man behind Desperate Housewives, Marc Cherry, is ready to bring a much different kind of program to ABC in the form of the pilot Hallelujah. Hallelujah, Tennessee is a town being torn apart by the forces of good and evil until a stranger arrives to bring justice, peace and quite possibly restore the faith in the world that the residents so desperately need. Jesse Martin (Law & Order) stars in

The popular Canadian series Being Erica is being adapted for an American audience by Maggie Friedman, who was the creator for the short-lived series Eastwick. No casting decisions have been announced yet.

René Echevarria, the Executive Producer for Medium and The 4400, is behind the TV adaptation of the 1994 box office film True Lies, which focused on a family man who lived a double life as a government spy.

There are over a dozen more dramatic pilots, besides the ones above, that are being considered by ABC; and while any of these could be picked up for the 2011-2012 season, please keep in mind that very few will actually make it to series. The final decision will be made by the powers that be at the network in late spring and announced in May at the New York upfront presentations.

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