The following are pilots that are under consideration at just some of the many cable networks:
Occult (A&E) – The pilot centers of Dolan, an FBI agent who returns from administrative leave after going off the deep end while investigating his wife’s disappearance. Eager to be back on the job, he is paired with Noa Blair, an agent with her own complicated backstory, who specializes in the occult. Together they will solve cases for the newly formed occult crimes task force.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Produced by Michael Bay (Transformers) and Brad Fuller. James Wong (The X-Files) is the writer.
CAST: Josh Lucas and Lynn Collins will have the lead roles.
Ashland (AMC) – This pilot is set in 1950 in Ashland, a tiny mining town in Kentucky, the Evans family has just relocated from California and the matriarch, Del, must hide her family’s secrets and find a way to support her three children at the height of the Red Scare.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Allison Anders (Gas, Food, Lodging) and Terry Graham are the writers and executive producers.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
Ballistic City (AMC) – This pilot is a futuristic drama about a former cop who is thrust into the criminal underworld of a city housed in a generational space ship destined for an unknown world.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Travis Beacham (Clash Of The Titans) is writer and executive producer, Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy) is executive producer and director.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
Halt and Catch Fire (AMC) – The series will be set in the early 80’s, revolving around the personal computing boom; told through the eyes of a visionary and an engineer and prodigy whose innovations directly confront the corporate behemoths of the time. Their partnership will be challenged by greed and ego while charting the changing culture in Texas’ Silicon Prairie.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Chris Cantwell and Chris Rogers are the writers with Mark Johnson and Melissa Bernstein (Breaking Bad) as executive producers.
CAST: Lee Pace (Pushing Daisies) will star as Joe, the visionary while Scoot McNairy (Bones) will play Gordon, the engineer and Mackenzie Davis will play Cameron, the prodigy. Kerry Bishe (Argo) will play Donna, Gordon’s wife and the backbone of their family who is also an experienced computer engineer. Toby Huss will play Bosworth, the SVP of Sales at Cardiff Giant. David Wilson Barnes will play Dale Barnes, the SVP of Sales, North America for IBM.
King (AMC) – This pilot is set in the early 1960s, where Floridian King Carmichael sells his soul to a corrupt, racist political machine to win a seat in the Senate. Having run as a segregationist, he is then tapped by Lyndon B. Johnson to champion civil rights in the South.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Joe Scarborough (MSNBC’s Morning Joe) and Mika Brzezinski (MSNBC’s Morning Joe) are the executive producers while Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider (Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos) are the writers and executive producers.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
Line of Sight (AMC) – This sci-fi oriented pilot will be about Lewis Bernt, a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator who survives a mysterious plane crash, bringing him on a quest to discover the accident’s cause.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Blake Masters (Brotherhood and Rubicon) will be writer, creator and executive producer.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
The Terror (AMC) – This pilot is an adaptation of the 2007 best-selling novel by Dan Simmons that is set in 1847 when the crew of a Royal Naval expedition to find the Arctic’s treacherous Northwest Passage discover instead a monstrous predator, a cunning and vicious Gothic horror that stalks the ships in a desperate game of survival.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Feature writer David Kajganich will executive produce with David Zucker and Ridley Scott.
CAST: Unknown as this time.
The Wall (AMC) – This pilot is set in 1960s Berlin where an American businessman becomes embroiled in a web of East-West espionage.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Jim Keeble and Dudi Appleton (Thorne) are the writers and executive producers, while Alan Greenspan (Donnie Brasco, High Fidelity) is the executive producer.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
Turn (AMC) –This pilot tells the story of New York farmer, Abe Woodhull, who bands together with a group of childhood friends to form The Culper Ring, an unlikely group of spies who turn the tide in America’s fight for independence.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Rupert Wyatt is directing the AMC Studios-based hour from a script by Craig Silverstein.
CAST: Australian actors (relative newcomer) Meegan Warner and Daniel Henshall (Not Suitable for Children) will play Abe’s wife Mary, and Henshall is set to play Caleb Brewster, a former whaler who is now at Lieutenant in the Second Continental Artillery. Burn Gorman will play Major Hewlett, a British Major assigned to the Colonies and Seth Numrich will play Benjamin Talmadge, an outspoken, impassioned young man who is running reconnaissance missions for General Washington. Jamie Bell will play the lead character, Abe Woodhull. Heather Lind (Boardwalk Empire) will play Anna Strong, the beautiful wife of the local tavern owner who is Abe’s first love. Kevin McNally (Pirates of the Caribbean) will play Richard Woodhull, the local magistrate and Abe’s well-respected father while Angus Macfadyen will play Robert Rogers, a feared and admired war hero. J.J. Field (Captain America: The First Avenger) will play Major John Andre, the head of counterintelligence in the Revolutionary War.
Untitled Dahvi Waller Project (AMC) – This pilot is set against the New York automobile industry of the 1920s, two brothers struggle to keep their family-run company afloat with a class-hopping Ziegfeld girl and the daughter of an English competitor blurring the line between love and business.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Dahvi Waller (Mad Men) is the writer and executive producer.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
Untitled Tim Lea/Anonymous Content Project (AMC) – This pilot is set in America’s near future, one family is nearly torn apart in the conflict between a repressive government and the emerging movement for a second American Revolution.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Tim Lea (Flash Forward, The Riches) is the writer and executive producer while David Kanter and Matt DeRoss are executive producers.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
White City (AMC) – This pilot western diplomats and journalists living in Afghanistan.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Tom Freston (MTV) is the executive producer while Nick McDonell (Twelve, The Third Brother, An Expensive Education) and John Dempsey are the ; writers and co-executive producers.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
Rita (Bravo) – This pilot is a family drama that follows Rita, an acerbic, outspoken private school teacher, who struggles to raise her three teenage children while dealing with the inane bureaucracy and overprotective parents at her school.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Writer Krista Vernoff and director Miguel Arteta are behind the Fox Television Studios-based hour, an adaptation of the Danish format of the same name.
CAST: Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad) will play the lead role of Rita. Josh Hamilton will play Terrence, the principal of the school, who is infatuated with Rita. Colin Salmon (Arrow) will play Colin Page, the aristocratic, emotionally-guarded British teacher, who is the head of the history department at the school. Robbie Kay will play Rita’s gay son. Rafi Gavron (Snitch and Life Unexpected) and Rhys Wakefield have also been cast in undisclosed roles. Anisha Nagarajan will play an eager new teacher.
Witch Hunt (Bravo) – This is an epic supernatural drama set in a reimagined New York City that follows a single mother, desperate for a job, who gets hired at a leading cosmetics company only to discover that the entire company is a front for a coven of witches.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Writer-director Ry Russo-young and playwright Dorothy Fortenberry. Mikkel Bondeson and Henrik Bastin will be executive producers while Kristen Camp will serve as co-executive producer.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
Dirty/Pretty (E! Entertainment) – This pilot is a dark comedy centering on a blue collar guy from south Boston who gets scouted to be a model in Miami. Life gets turned upside down when his two best friends join him and see his new life as a way to expand their criminal activities.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Gale Anne Hurd (The Walking Dead and Terminator) will be the executive producer along with Keith Eisner (The Good Wife), Jason Markarian and John Mirabella.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
Expectations (E! Entertainment) – This pilot is inspired by the classic Dickens work that is a soap about a morally corrupt family in the diamond business set in New York City.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Dan Jinks (American Beauty) will be the executive producer with Ron Bass (Rain Man and Sleeping with the Enemy) will be the writer.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
Fortunate Son (E! Entertainment) – Framed for a drug deal by a friend from his hard-partying days, society golden boy Michael Baron becomes a criminal informant and is at the mercy of the police. He bounces between his privileged west side of Los Angeles existence and the case he is forced to work in the slums. But his dark past gives Michael some leverage over his fate, and he makes a dangerous deal that could clear his name. Or get him killed.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Kevin Spacey, Michael DeLuca and Dana Brunetti will executive producer along with writer and co-executive producer Joey Falco.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
Laurel Canyon (E! Entertainment) – A young woman returns to her dysfunctional extended family in Laurel Canyon with her son after hearing her rock-star legend father has passed away.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage (The O.C., Gossip Girl and Chuck) are executive producers with Karen Croner (Admission) is also an executive producer and writer.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
Songbyrd (E! Entertainment) – A young, prolific songwriter of some of the best love songs struggles to find love in her personal life after her inspiration is revealed to be a lie. The potential series will feature the songs and experiences of Grammy winner Diane Warren.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: The executive producers are Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (Smash) and Krista Vernoff (Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice), who will also serve as writer.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
The Royals (E! Entertainment) – Part fairy tale, part cautionary tale, this contemporary family ensemble is steeped in all of the regal opulence of the British Monarchy and framed by Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It’s a tale of men and women corrupted by power, wealth and desire while looking at the nature of celebrity from a Royals’ point of view.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Mark Schwahn (One Tree Hill) will be the writer and executive producer along with Brian Robbins and Joe Davola (both from Smallville) also as executive producers
CAST: Unknown at this time.
The Shoreline (E! Entertainment) – The golden child of a small coastal town in South Carolina returns home to see that a major Hollywood prime time soap, The Shore Line Yacht Club, is the biggest employer in town. An enormous class divide separates the cast and producers from the townspeople, yet their lives are now continuously and irrevocably intertwined – for better or for worse.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Carolyn Ingber will be the writer while Becky Hartman Edwards (Switched at Birth and Parenthood) will be the executive producer.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
The Stand-In (E! Entertainment) – This pilot is a darkly psychological re-telling of “The Prince & the Pauper” set behind the scenes of one of Hollywood’s most famous actresses, who, tired of the spotlight, runs away in search of a normal life. Desperate, her family secretly hires a look a-like to step into the star’s glamorous world and high profile career – only to have the doppleganger slowly lose herself in the process of becoming someone else.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Ryan Seacrest, Nina Wass and Adam Sher are the executive producers.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
Crash and Burn (FX) – The pilot is loosely inspired by the non-fiction book “The Full Burn” by Kevin Conley that tells the story of Doc Dixon, a man trying to survive as a stuntman during the anything goes world of pre-computer-generation post-Vietnam San Fernando Valley, California.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: From Gale Anne Hurd (The Walking Dead) and written by Jeffrey Lieber (Necessary Roughness).
CAST: Unknown at this time.
The Strain (FX) – Based on the book trilogy by Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro, this pilot will center on a vampire virus that infects New York City.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Carlton Cuse (Lost and Bates Motel) will work alongside del Toro and Hogan as executive producers.
CAST: Corey Stoll (House of Cards) will play Goodweather, the head of the CDC’s Canary Team in New York who is called upon to investigate the viral outbreak. Kevin Durand (Lost and I Am Number Four) will play Vasily Fet, a second generation Ukrainian-American and rat exterminator by trade who enthusiastically joins the war against the vampires.
Tyrant (FX) – This pilot tells the story of an unassuming American family drawn into the workings of a turbulent Middle Eastern nation.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: From Howard Gordon and Gideon Raff (Homeland) and writer-producer Craig Wright (Six Feet Under and Lost).
CAST: Unknown at this time.
The Leftovers (HBO) – This pilot asks what would happen if The Rapture actually took place and millions of people just disappear from the Earth.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Damon Lindelof (Lost) and author of the novel for which the project is based Tom Perrotta.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
HR (Lifetime) – This pilot is about Ellen Bell, the uptight Director of Human Resources for a global company who, after a head injury, throws standard corporate practices out the window and inspires the business to strive for new ambitions and profits.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: From writer Glenn Porter and co-executive producers Michael Lohmann and Aaron Kaplan.
CAST: Alicia Silverstone will have the lead role. No other cast announcements have been made as yet.
Scream (MTV) – This will be an adaptation of the Wes Craven films.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Former MTV executives Tony DiSanto and Liz Gateley will serve as executive producers.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
An Affair (Showtime) – This pilot centers on Noah, a married father of four, who becomes involved with Allison, a married woman mourning the loss of her child, after a chance meeting at the beach.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: From executive producer and writer Sarah Treem (In Treatment)
CAST: Unknown at this time.
The Vatican (Showtime) – This is a contemporary genre thriller about spirituality, power and politics set against the modern-day machinations within the Catholic Church.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: David W. Zucker is the executive producer along with Paul Attanasio, who is the show’s creator.
CAST: Matthew Goode (Chasing Liberty) will play Papal Secretary Bernd Koch, the current Pope’s closest confidante. Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights) will play Cardinal Thomas Duffy, the charismatic yet enigmatic Archbishop of New York. Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies) will play Kayla Duffy, Cardinal Duffy’s younger sister, who is her brother’s polar opposite, a sexually active, hard-partying New Yorker. Sebastian Koch will play Cardinal Marco Malerba. Bruno Ganz (Downfall) will play the Pope.
Clandestine (Syfy) – This pilot is about what happens after a clan of bandits are nearly destroyed and left for dead by Coalition forces. They take refuge in the nearest safe haven, a derelict Coalition starship floating in space. Once onboard, they masquerade as Coalition officers while continuing their criminal ways – until they stumble upon a shocking realization about the true nature of the Coalition.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Todd Stashwick and Dennis Calero are the writers while Gale Anne Hurd (The Walking Dead) and John Shiban (Hell on Wheels) will be the executive producers.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
Dominion (working title) (Syfy) – This pilot tells the story of what happens 20 years after evil angels descend from heaven to lay waste to the human souls they felt God had favored over them. A reluctant “savior” must arise to protect Vega, the last remaining stronghold of humanity. The savior has more to fear than just angels, as the elites of this new society conspire to gain power for themselves.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: David Lancaster is the Executive Producer will Vaun Wilmott (Sons of Anarchy) is the writer and co-executive producer.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
High Moon (Syfy) – This pilot is an imaginative, out-of-this-world series exploring what happens when the countries of Earth establish colonies to mine the Moon’s resources and discover a new form of life. Chaos erupts in a genuinely emotional, humorously thrilling and always unexpected fashion as the people of the Moon race to uncover this life form’s powerful secrets.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: From Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies) and Jim Danger Gray (Hannibal).
CAST: Unknown at this time.
Infinity (Syfy) – This pilot is about what happens when an alien armada is sighted in the region of Pluto, causing the Earth government to turn to a young billionaire industrialist — who has the only ship ready for interstellar travel — to greet the aliens and avoid a catastrophe. Powered by secret alien technology discovered on Earth in the 1960’s, the ship engages in a firefight that sends them spinning through a wormhole into an uncharted region of space. Lost in the universe, the team struggles to survive as they encounter new planets and alien species, searching for a way back home.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Javier Grillo-Marxuach (Lost) is the writer.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
No Place (Syfy) – This pilot is about the residents of a high-tech gated community, who arise one day to find themselves cut off from the rest of reality. Outside the walls of Paradise Hill is…nothing. Now the neighborhood must figure out how to survive as resources dwindle and tensions rise.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: John Brancato and Mike Ferris (Terminator Salvation, The Game) are the writers and executives producers along with Robert Zemeckis and Jack Rapke.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
Orion (Syfy) – This pilot focuses on Orion, an adventurous female relic hunter, who tracks down valuable artifacts while trying to piece together her past. Set amidst an intergalactic war pitting humans against a terrifying alien race, Orion must decide whether to use her abilities to save herself or commit to the cause and unearth long hidden artifacts that could free all of humanity from a horrible fate.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: The executive producers and writers are Ron Milbauer and Terri Hughes Burton (Alphas).
CAST: Unknown at this time.
Shelter (Syfy) – This pilot is about what happens as a massive meteorite is heading toward Earth, forcing 30,000 hand-picked humans to live underground in a government funded shelter in order to start a new society. What begins as a Utopia quickly succumbs to the old human faults and jealousies as certain members of society create alliances to gain favor and power. Meanwhile things on the surface are not what they seem. Humans slowly realize that this event may have been fated and the survivors meant for a greater purpose in rebooting life on Earth.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Executive producer and writer is Bruce Joel Rubin (Deep Impact) and co-executive producer and writer is Ari Rubin.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
Silver Shields (Syfy) – This pilot is about what happens when a farm boy – by the name of Caymer – who, after his father is slain by assassins connected to the government of the large nearby city of Pont Royal, journeys there to continue his father’s legacy as a member of the local police force — and to solve the mystery of his father’s death. He discovers that his simple country view on life is at odds with the big city, filled with orcs and other magical creatures.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Robert Hewitt Wolfe (Alphas) is the executive producer and writer with Aaron Kaplan working as the producer.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
Sojourn (Syfy) – This pilot is about the first detective ever in space, who is tasked with investigating a murder on a starship — headed to colonize another planet – and instead becomes embroiled in a vast conspiracy involving a mysterious terrible crime dating back to the original launch of the ship 50 years ago.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Phil Levens (Smallville) is the writer while the producer will be Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity).
CAST: Unknown at this time.
Untitled Alfonso Moreno Project (Syfy) – This pilot is about what happens after a meteorite strikes a plane, leaving the only two survivors finding themselves sleepwalking and waking up with no memory of their actions. On the run from the government, they must figure out what happened to them and prove their innocence.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Alfonso Moreno (NCIS) and Ross Fineman (Lights Out) are the executive producers.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
Murder in The First (TNT) – This pilot is set in contemporary San Francisco, centering on two SFPD homicide detectives, Terry Seagrave and Hildy Mulligan, as they take on a case that seems more like a maze.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Steven Bochco is co-creator with Eric Lodal
CAST: Kathleen Robertson (Boss) and Taye Diggs (Private Practice) will play the lead roles. Steven Weber (Wings) will co-star.
Untitled Ballet Drama (TNT) – The pilot follows a young female ballet dancer who has a distinctly troubled past as she joins a prestigious ballet company in New York.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Writers Moria Walley-Beckett and Lawrence Bender
CAST: Unknown at this time.
Untitled Geena Davis Pilot (TNT) – This pilot is inspired by the real-life story of bounty hunger Mackenzie “Mack” Green, an unconventional bail bondswoman and bounty hunter whose eccentric personality and unusual tactics give her an advantage in tough and unpredictable business.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Dean Devlin (Leverage) will direct. He and Amy Berg will serve as showrunners while Scott Prendergast, John Altschuler, Dave Krinsky, Tom Lassally and Michael Rotenberg will all executive produce.
CAST: The aforementioned Geena Davis in the lead role; Gloria Reuben (ER) as Assistant DA Kate Mickelson, a tenacious attorney with an honest and blunt relationship with Mack and Marsha Mason. Enrico Colantoni (Veronica Mars and Flashpoint) will play Wendell Hicks, Mack’s former accountant hired to run the financial desk at the bail bonds office. Mason will by Mack’s strong and independent mother Lloyd. Scott Bakula (Quantum Leap) will play Mack’s ex-husband Pete, a cop.
Horizon (USA Network) – Set during the height of World War II, the project centers on a secretary at the FBI who discovers that her husband might have been killed in a battle with a spaceship in the South Pacific. Obsessed with learning the truth, she becomes the only person standing between Earth and an alien invasion.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Gale Anne Hurd is the executive producer.
CAST: Unknown at this time.
The Edge (USA Network) – The drama is about an idealistic Harvard Business School graduate, who joins a progressive financial firm where he discovers the company’s dark secrets while becoming entangled in a high-stakes FBI investigation.
THOSE BEHIND THE SHOW: Newcomers Justin Herber and Adam Hoff
CAST: Unknown at this time.
Unlike the predictions I made for the major network pilots that are up for consideration for the 2013-2014 TV season, let’s just wait to see which of these pilots will actually make it to series. But, after reading all of those details, are you interested in seeing any of the above pilots make it to the small screen? Please share.
Rueben's Ramblings 