Rueben's Ramblings

The following is the final list of pilots being considered for the 2011-2012 fall TV season. These pilots come from NBC:

17th Precinct Cast (c) Tricia Helfer

17th Precinct comes from Ron Moore (the man behind the reimagined Battlestar Galactica) and is a supernatural police drama set in the fictional town of Excelsior where magic and supernatural elements rule over science. The cast includes BSG alums Jamie Bamber, James Callis and Tricia Helfer as well as Eamonn Walker (Kings), Esai Morales (Caprica), Matt Long (Jack & Bobby) and Stockard Channing (The West Wing). Kristin Kreuk (Smallville) is set to guest star in the pilot.

VERDICT: Hell, YES! NBC would be foolish to not pick up this pilot to series not only because of the incredible cast (including the mini-Battlestar Galactica reunion with Jamie, James and Tricia) but also the fact that this is a supernatural series from Ron Moore. And, quite honestly NBC needs some hits and this could definitely be one of them.

Don Johnson

A Mann’s World is about Allan Mann, a celebrity Los Angeles hair stylist (Don Johnson) who struggles to navigate the complexities of his business, his family life and his goal to stay relevant in a world that moves quickly. This pilot comes from Michael Patrick King (the man behind Sex and the City). The cast includes Taylor Kinney (The Vampire Diaries), JR Bourne (Stargate: SG-1) and Kelly Hu (X-Men 2).

VERDICT: Are they kidding? NBC wants us to watch a show about a celebrity hair stylist? I’d rather watch a reality program and those things are about as close to bottom of the barrel to my way of thinking as possible. Run away from this one FAST!

David Giuntoli

Grimm is a dark, fantastical cop drama featuring characters inspired by Grimm’s Fairy Tales from David Greenwalt. The pilot stars David Giuntoli, Russell Hornsby (Lincoln Heights), Silas Weir Mitchell (Prison Break) and Sasha Roiz (Caprica). Kate Burton (Grey’s Anatomy) will guest star in the pilot.

VERDICT: Again, another fairy tale inspired pilot just on a different network. There is a growing interest in fairy tales – just look at some of the upcoming box office movies – but will this one stick? It has some interesting cast members and the pilot episode was written by someone who knows a thing or two about the supernatural (Greenwalt worked on Buffy, the Vampire Slayer AND Angel). But again, will this work with the general viewing public? I seriously doubt it.

Playboy Cast

The drama pilot – currently called Playboy – is, of course, set at the Playboy Club in Chicago in 1963 and explores the lives of working-class Playboy bunnies and the men who loved them. The cast includes Eddie Cibrian (Third Watch), Amber Heard (Zombieland), Jenna Dewan Tatum (Step Up), David Krumholtz (Numb3rs) and Naturi Naughton (Fame). Among the producers is Brian Grazer.

VERDICT: Well, I know I am NOT going to watch this show, but this will definitely bring in the male viewers even if they don’t show that much skin. Pretty, scantily-clad girls in bunny costumes? Men will be salivating; but is there enough stories to tell and will the male of the species be enough to keep the show going ratings-wise? I sure hope not!

Maria Bello

Prime Suspect is an adaptation of the British miniseries that centers on a tough female detective (Maria Bello) who has to make her bones in a tough New York precinct dominated by men. One of the producers is Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights). The cast includes Aidan Quinn (Legend of the Fall, Kirk Acevedo (Fringe), Tim Griffin (Star Trek), Toby Stephens (Die Another Day) and Brian O’Bryne (FlashForward).

VERDICT: This show SHOULD be picked up by NBC based on the popularity of the original UK airing alone, but this version is helped along with the casting of Maria Bello (A History of Violence) in the lead role. If this show can exude half of what the UK version did, then it will succeed. It will have to live up to the legend of Helen Mirren, of course, as well as the sharp writing style that is predominant to UK series.

Reconstruction Cast

Reconstruction is a period piece set in the aftermath of the Civil War, following a soldier (Martin Henderson from Off the Map) who crosses the country and settles in a complicated town where he is welcomed as its savior — whether he likes it or not. The cast include Rachel Lefevre (The Twilight franchise), Robert Knepper (Prison Break) and Emma Bell (The Walking Dead).

VERDICT: A period piece? Like that is going to work on an already fickle TV viewing audience? Don’t get me wrong, I like period pieces, but I can’t see enough viewers tuning it to make a difference ratings-wise.

Jason Isaacs

REM is the new drama from Kyle Killen (the creator of the short-live and much-maligned FOX drama Lone Star) about a police detective (Jason Isaacs from Brotherhood and the Harry Potter franchise) who is involved in a traumatic car accident, waking in two fractured realities. Among the cast are Wilmer Valderrama (That 70’s Show), Cherry Jones (24), Steve Harris (The Practice and Friday Night Lights), B.D. Wong (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), Laura Allen (Terriers), Michael McManus (The Vampire Diaries) and Dylan Minnette (Lost).

VERDICT: Yes! Just look at the cast for this show and match that with a very unique premise. Sure the stories will probably get complicated since it is about two different realities, but that hasn’t harmed the fan fervor for Fringe (despite that show’s low ratings). And in the long-run that will be the one that could hurt this show if it were picked up: will enough viewers tune in.

Jimmy Smits

The Stephan Gaghan (the man behind the box office movie Traffic) pilot called Special Investigations L.A. takes a look at Los Angeles through multiple perspectives, including law enforcement, the justice system, city hall and the criminal underworld. The pilot stars Jimmy Smits (NYPD Blue), Madchen Amick (Twin Peaks and Damages), Danny Pino (Cold Case) and Noah Emmerich (White Collar).

VERDICT: This will be yet another Jimmy Smits pilot that has a unique premise but will probably crash and burn simply because it will go over the heads of the audience. Cop dramas are one thing, but when a pilot starts out focusing on multiple perspectives, well, that’s just gonna be too much too soon. Make it simple or else you are going to lose the viewers before you even get started.

Debra Messing

Smash is a Glee-esque copy-cat about a group of people who come together to put on a Broadway show about Marilyn Monroe. The pilot is executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. The cast includes Debra Messing (Will & Grace), Anjelica Houston (Ever After), Jack Davenport (FlashForward), Katharine McPhee (former American Idol runner-up) and Broadway star Megan Hilty.

VERDICT: A show about a Broadway play focusing on Marilyn Monroe? I think this would make a better mini-series than a weekly drama. And while Glee started out as the little underdog show that became a worldwide phenom, the fans are starting to do the predictable: rejecting the very show they once heralded because of poor writing during the second season. The same fate could lie ahead for Smash.

Adrianne Palicki

The reimagined Wonder Woman is being done by David E. Kelley (the man behind Ally McBeal, The Practice and Boston Legal). This new version stars Adrianne Palicki (Friday Night Lights) as Diana Themyscira (aka vigilante superhero Wonder Woman), a shrewd corporate executive AND Diana Prince, an assistant at Themyscira Industries (yes she has more than one identity BESIDES being Wonder Woman). The cast includes Tracie Thoms (Cold Case), Cary Elwes (Princess Bride) and Elizabeth Hurley (Austen Powers) in a recurring role.

VERDICT: No! First of all, it is a remake of the 1970’s classic that has been languishing in development hell not only for TV but also on the big screen. Second, the script is being heavily brutalized by critics. And, don’t even get anyone started on the various costumes worn by Wonder Woman. You just might start a war if the focus is on that one subject matter alone. And, there is the fact that remakes of past series don’t always work out. No matter how “cool” they try to make this pilot look, it’s just not going to work.

What does this mean for NBC? They need to pick up REM, Prime Suspect and 17th Precinct and they need to bury Wonder Woman and Smash. IF they need to fill more timeslots – because let’s face it NBC is HURTING big time in their dramatic programming timeslots – they could attempt to make Grimm work if necessary. The rest just aren’t going to cut it.

And with that said, this ends the pilot watch updates for the major networks.

Please keep in mind that in a few weeks we will find out which pilots each network has decided to pick-up to series and how the proposed fall TV landscape will look. I will be very curious to see if any of my predictions come true or not. What pilots from the five major networks would you like to see make it into the fall schedule? Please share.