Cancelled shows of Tomorrow: The War on Chuck Lorre - Part 6

[Hunter Rider]

'How To Get Away' With Murder sounds intriguing.

 

[Sawyer]

http://www.deadline.com/2014/01/family-comedy-from-brian-gallivan-will-gluck-gets-abc-pilot-order/

Family Comedy From Brian Gallivan & Will Gluck Gets ABC Pilot Order
By NELLIE ANDREEVA

ABC gas given a pilot order to a single-camera comedy from creator Brian Gallivan, Sony TV and Will Gluck’s studio-based Olive Bridge Prods. — the auspices behind another family comedy pilot this season, CBS’ The McCarthys. The ABC project, which had a high seven-figure penalty, centers on an overworked father dreaming of being “on vacation all year” who decides to uproot his family from the city and move them to New Hampshire where they open a group of tourist cottages. And where they rarely, if ever, feel like they’re on vacation. Gallivan, who hails from New England (he grew up in the Boston area where he taught middle school language arts before embarking on a comedy career), wrote the script and executive produces with Gluck and Olive Bridge’s Richie Schwartz.

 

[Sawyer]

http://www.deadline.com/2014/01/david-schwimmer-stars-abc-comedy-pilot-irreversible/

David Schwimmer To Topline & Produce ABC Comedy Pilot ‘Irreversible’
By NELLIE ANDREEVA

David Schwimmer is eying a return to the small screen. In his first broadcast TV role since Friends, Schwimmer has signed on as the male lead in the ABC comedy pilot Irreversible, from Peter Tolan and Sony Pictures TV. Schwimmer also will serve as a producer on the project, based on the Israeli series Bilti Hafich. I hear the premium deal also includes a future pilot directing commitment from ABC. Following his 10-season run on NBC’s mega hit Friends, Schwimmer had focused on directing, helming two features, Run, Fatboy, Run and Trust, episodic television and two pilots, one of which, last season’s Growing Up Fisher, was picked up to series by NBC.

Irreversible, which is partially improvised in the vein of Curb Your Enthusiasm, centers on Andy (Schwimmer) and Sarah, a somewhat eccentric, self-absorbed couple, and their trials and tribulations — most of which they bring upon themselves. Bilti Hafich became an instant hit when it launched last January, ranking as the No.1 original comedy on Israeli broadcast TV and earning a second-season renewal. Sony’s adaptation sparked a heated bidding in August, scoring a rare pilot greenlight with a big, seven-figure penalty off of a pitch. The original series’ co-creator Segahl Avin co-wrote the adaptation and may direct the pilot, which will film in New York. Avin is executive producing with Fedora’s Tolan and Michael Wimer and Reshet TV, the Israeli broadcaster behind the original series, while Schwimmer is producing. Schwimmer, whose only on-screen TV credit since Friends has been an arc on the Web/Showtime improv series of his Friends co-star Lisa Kudrow, is repped by Gersh and attorney Michael Gendler. He had been the only Friends cast member besides Jennifer Aniston not to headline a followup TV series.

Getting one of the stars of the one of the most successful sitcoms ever as their lead probably just increased the likelihood of this thing getting picked up.

 

[DrDoom]

Didnt help Matthew Perry's failed 5 sitcoms

 

[Sawyer]

Oh you and your exaggeration. It wasn't five. He's had one drama and two comedies since Friends ended.

And goddammit, Go On should've lasted!

The point is, I really don't think any of these broadcast networks would dare pass on a show starring any of those six if the opportunity were presented to them.

 

[Duran Man]

http://www.deadline.com/2014/01/david-schwimmer-stars-abc-comedy-pilot-irreversible/

Getting one of the stars of the one of the most successful sitcoms ever as their lead probably just increased the likelihood of this thing getting picked up.

I think I'd like this.

 

[Sawyer]

http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/jack-davenport-to-star-in-abc-pilot-sea-of-fire/

Jack Davenport To Star In ABC Pilot ‘Sea Of Fire’
By NELLIE ANDREEVA

Jack Davenport is set as the lead in ABC’s drama pilot Sea Of Fire. The Smash alum, who fielded multiple pilot offers, joins recently cast female lead Jennifer Carpenter in the project based on a Dutch format. Young Australian actress Isabelle Cornish (Home & Away) also has been cast in the pilot,which chronicles the fallout from three teenage girls starring in a pornographic film, which tears their families apart and leads to a disappearance, a murder and host of other secrets boiling under the surface in a small town. Davenport stars as the easy-going local Sheriff Marty Kesowich. Already deeply concerned over his suicidal and befuddled wife, Marty counts himself lucky to have a seemingly perfect daughter, cheerleader and straight-A student Merel (Cornish). But he’s shocked to learn that Merel is not at all the paragon he imagined. After Merel’s close friend Jane goes missing, Marty fears that his daughter had some involvement, and when FBI Agent Leah Pierce (Carpenter) joins the case, Marty is torn between pursuing the investigation fully or covering up the increasingly damning evidence against his child. Sea Of Fire hails from writer Jenna Bans, Sony TV, ABC Studios, Scripted World and Mandeville. British-born Davenport, repped by Gersh, manager Nancy Sanders and UK’s Christian Hodell, most recently starred in the IFC miniseries Breathless.

 

[Teelie]

That sounds better than the more generic and vague synopsis that we had earlier.

 

[Sawyer]

http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/david-semel-to-direct-madam-secretary-jeff-reiner-to-helm-salvation/

David Semel To Direct ‘Madam Secretary’, Jeff Reiner To Helm ‘Salvation’
By NELLIE ANDREEVA

Sought after pilot director David Semel is spoken for this season, as he has been tapped to helm CBS‘s drama pilot Madam Secretary, starring Tea Leoni. The project, from creator/exec producer Barbara Hall and exec producer Morgan Freeman, explores the personal and professional life of a maverick female Secretary of State (Leoni) as she drives international diplomacy, wrangles office politics and balances a complex family life. WME-repped Semel has directed the pilots for such series as American Dreams, Heroes, No Ordinary Family, Person of Interest and most recently, TNT’s Legends and CBS’ Intelligence.

Jeffrey Reiner (Friday Night Lights) is set to direct NBC’s drama pilot Salvation, from Liz Heldens, Universal TV and David Janollari Entertainment, a family saga set against the backdrop of a Texas mega church where faith, family and corruption are explored in equal measure. WME-repped Reiner has been in the NBCUni family for the past decade, directing and executive producing a number of projects, including series Trauma, The Event and Awake. He most recently helmed the Syfy pilot 12 Monkeys.

 

[Sawyer]

http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/mcg-to-direct-nbc-pilot-mysteries-of-laura/

McG To Direct NBC Pilot ‘Mysteries Of Laura’
By NELLIE ANDREEVA

McG has boarded NBC’s drama pilot The Mysteries Of Laura as director/executive producer, reuniting with Warner Bros TV — where his company, Wonderland Sound Of Vision, was based for 12 years before going indie in June. Mysteries Of Laura, from WBTV, writer Jeff Rake, Greg Berlanti’s Berlanti Productions and Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment, is based on the popular Spanish series Los Misterios De Laura. It follows the life and relationships of a female homicide detective who can handle murderous criminals — but not her evil twins. McG’s Wonderland continues to co-produce with WBTV the CW’s long-running drama Supernatural as well as its upcoming spinoff. Last season, WME-repped McG directed the ABC/WBTV drama pilot Westside.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/pilot-season-2014-hot-actors-actresses-offers/

PILOT SEASON: Which Actors Are Getting The Early Offers
By NELLIE ANDREEVA

We’re in the midst of the annual ritual of broadcast casting executives chasing their tails, also known as casting the leads of dozens of network pilots at the same time. As usual, many pilots go after the same names, resulting in a few actors holding a slew of offers thus bringing pilot season to a standstill.

Last year, Damages‘ Rose Byrne was the focus of attention with virtually every pilot vying for her, but she ended up passing on all. Actresses receiving multiple offers early on this season but not yet committing include Jennifer Connelly, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Diane Lane, Maria Bello, Hilary Swank, Octavia Spencer, Felicity Huffman, Kyra Sedgwick, Sarah Chalke and Elizabeth Banks. We already had a very elusive leading lady, Tea Leoni, locked in for a pilot, CBS drama Madam Secretary, with popular pilot targets Jack Davenport, Jennifer Carpenter (both on ABC’s Sea Of Fire) and David Schwimmer (ABC’s Irreversible) also spoken for. Several usual suspects, including Ellie Kemper and Natasha Lyonne, got an early jump by attaching themselves to projects (NBC’s Tina Fey/Robert Carlock series for Kemper, the Amy Poehler pilot for Lyonne).

On the male side, House star Hugh Laurie is in demand for a second straight season. Last year, he flirted with NBC’s pirate drama Crossbones and passed on a number of pilots, including NBC’s The Blacklist. He is is getting a ton of offers — both one-hour and half-hour — again this year. Also heavily sought are Magic City star Jeffrey Dean Morgan and John C. Riley. Other popular leading-man choices this season include The Office‘s John Krasinski, though he has not indicated an interest in returning to TV; Thomas Hayden Church; James Marsden; Seann William Scott; Dennis Quaid; Luke Wilson; and Adam Pally. Every season, there is the cast of a recently cancelled show that is creating a feeding frenzy. This year, that is the Happy Endings ensemble. Two cast members — Casey Wilson and Eliza Coupe — already have been snapped up by USA comedy series Benched and NBC pilot Marry Me, respectively, with the others, including Pally and Damon Wayans Jr, still in high demand. Two other high-profile series departees, Parks & Recreation‘s Rob Lowe and Rashida Jones, also were drafted back for pilot duty right away: Lowe is toplining NBC’s The Pro and Jones is playing the lead in TBS’ Tribeca.

 

[Hunter Rider]

^^ I need to know, is that a show about a woman with demonic breasts?

 

[Sawyer]

I'm assuming its referring to triplets. Referring to the main girl's other two sisters as her triplets wouldn't really sound right if its only talking about two of them, but twins sounds weird too.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Oh, I guess that makes sense, possessed hooters sounded more exciting though.

 

[Sawyer]

http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/ryan-phillippe-secrets-lies-abc-star/

Ryan Phillippe Poised To Play The Lead In ABC Drama ‘Secrets & Lies’
By NELLIE ANDREEVA

Ryan Phillippe is in final negotiations to star in ABC’s drama pilot Secrets & Lies, which has a series penalty. An adaptation of the upcoming Australian crime mystery series, Secrets & Lies centers on a family man (Phillippe) who becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a young boy when he finds the body. He has no choice but to try to find the real killer as his marriage, his kids, his reputation, and his sanity are all at stake. On the Australian series, the lead is played by Martin Henderson. Charles McDougall is directing the ABC pilot, from writer/exec producer Barbie Kligman, ABC Studios, Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment and Australian-based Hoodlum. On TV, WME-repped Phillippe’s previously did a season-long arc on Damages and was briefly attached to the pilot for CBS’ series Golden Boy.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/lin...-thriller-drama-series-from-damages-creators/

Linda Cardellini Joins Netflix’s Thriller Drama Series From ‘Damages’ Creators
By NELLIE ANDREEVA

Mad Men‘s Linda Cardellini is set to co-star opposite Kyle Chandler and Ben Mendelsohn in Netflix‘s 13-episode psychological thriller from Damages creators Todd A. Kessler, Daniel Zelman and Glenn Kessler and Sony Pictures TV. Written and executive produced by the Kessler brothers and Zelman in their follow-up to the acclaimed FX/DirecTV legal thriller starring Glenn Close, the untitled series centers on a close-knit family of adult siblings whose secrets and scars are revealed when the black sheep oldest brother, Danny (Mendesohn), returns home. Cardellini, repped by ICM Partners and Mosaic Media, will play the youngest of four siblings, Meg, a skilled attorney who’s also warm, caring and fun but, beneath her buoyant exterior, she is a complex woman with secrets. Chandler plays the middle brother. Filming is set to begin in late March in the Florida Keys. Cardellini earned an Emmy nomination last year for her first season on Mad Men, where she plays Don Draper’s mistress Sylvia. The ER and Freaks & Geeks alumna recently wrapped comedy feature Welcome To Me and is filming Lost In Austin.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/fra...abeth-rodriguez-cast-in-cinemax-pilot-blanco/

Franka Potente, Amaury Nolasco & Elizabeth Rodriguez Cast In Cinemax Pilot ‘Blanco’
By NELLIE ANDREEVA

Franka Potente (The Bourne Identity), Amaury Nolasco (Prison Break) and Elizabeth Rodriguez (Orange Is The New Black) are among a septet of actors who have joined Cinemax‘s drama pilot Blanco, starring Shiloh Fernandez. Written by Mark Rosner and directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, the pilot, from Fox TV Studios and Lakeshore Entertainment, centers on Ruben (Fernandez), an uptown gangster — Cinemaxnicknamed Blanco for being a light-skinned Dominican — who uses his status as a confidential informant to turn the tables on law enforcement and build his criminal empire. Potente will play Leslee, Blanco’s girlfriend; Nolasco is cast as Jesus, Blanco’s brother; and Rodriguez, repped by Stone Manners Salners Agency and Opus Entertainment, will play NYPD Detective Stephanie Gomez. Also cast in the pilot are Sebastian Arcelus (House Of Cards) as Blanco’s lawyer Andy Silver, Audrey Esparza (The Following) as Blanco’s brother’s girlfriend Veronica, Erik LaRay Harvey (Boardwalk Empire) as NYPD Detective Mike LeBeau, and Alex Hernandez (Law & Order: SVU) as Blanco’s associate Nando.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/david-strathairn-to-star-in-abc-drama-pilot-clementine/

David Strathairn To Star In ABC Drama Pilot ‘Clementine’
By NELLIE ANDREEVA

David Strathairn is set for a lead role in ABC‘s high-concept drama pilot Clementine, from feature scribe Dean Georgaris, ABC Studios and the Mark Gordon Co. The project centers on Clementine, a habitual criminal who digs into the mystery of her origins after she becomes the target of a group of zealots who fear she possesses latent supernatural abilities that she will one day harness for either profound good or monstrous evil. Strathairn will play Henry, her father. The actor, who won an Emmy for HBO’s Temple Grandin, recently toplined the Syfy series Alphas and was seen in Lincoln. He is repped by ICM Partners and Ryan Entertainment.

 

[Sawyer]

http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/cw-orders-apocalyptic-drama-pilot-the-messengers/

CW Orders Apocalyptic Drama Pilot ‘The Messengers’
By NELLIE ANDREEVA

The CW is staying in the genre/fantasy space with another drama pilot order, to The Messengers, from feature producer Basil Iwanyk (The Clash Of The Titans franchise). Written by Eoghan O’Donnell (Teen Wolf) with The Good Wife exec producer Ted Humphrey supervising, The Messengers starts with a mysterious object crashing down to earth. A group of seemingly unconnected strangers die from the energy pulse, but then awaken to learn that they have been deemed responsible for preventing the impending Apocalypse. (A previous description identified the awoken strangers as angels of the coming Apocalypse). Iwanyk executive produces through his Thunder Road Television. Thunder Road’s SVP Film & TV Kent Kubena and Industry Entertainment’s Ava Jamshidi also executive produce, with O’Donnell co-exec producing. The Messengers joins five other CW pilots, comic book adaptations The Flash and iZombie, Supernatural spinoff, thriller Identity and female soap Jane the Virgin.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/jake-mcdorman-to-star-in-abcs-jeff-lowell-comedy-pilot/

Jake McDorman To Star In ABC’s Jeff Lowell Comedy Pilot
By NELLIE ANDREEVA

Jake McDorman has been cast as the male lead in the ABC comedy pilot My Thoughts Exactly (aka untitled Jeff Lowell). Written by Lowell, the romantic comedy exposes the unfiltered internal monologues of a young couple (McDorman, Analeigh Tipton) embarking on a new relationship. McDorman, rerpped by UTA and Elissa Leeds at Reel Talent, recently recurred on Showtime’s Shameless.

 

[Sawyer]

http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/cbs...ck-santora-justin-lin-alex-kurtzman-bob-orci/

CBS Orders Drama Pilot From Nick Santora, Justin Lin, Alex Kurtzman & Bob Orci
By NELLIE ANDREEVA

CBS has given a pilot order Scorpion, a drama from Nick Santora, Justin Lin, Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci. The project, which had a put pilot commitment, was written by Breakout Kings co-creator Santora and will be directed by Fast & The Furious’ Lin, with CBS TV Studios producing. It centers on an eccentric genius and his international network of super-geniuses form the last line of defense against the complex threats of the modern age.

Scorpion was inspired by the true story of Walter O’Brien (hacker name “Scorpion&#8221, CEO of global think tank Scorpion Computer Services. A man with one of the world’s highest documented IQs (1 in 1.5B people), O’Brien became a real-life Professor X and recruited and trained other geniuses from around the world to work together to save lives and solve problems from casino security to Military Drone warfare. Executive producing Scorpion are Santora, Lin, O’Brien, K/O Paper Products’ Kurtzman, Orci and Heather Kadin and SB Prods.’ Scooter Braun, with SB’s Danny Rose and Danielle Woodrow of Lin’s Perfect Storm Entertainment co-exec producing, and SB’s Scott Manson and Perfect Storm’s Troy Poon producing. This is a second pilot order this season for CBS TV Studios-based K/O, along with terrorism drama Identity at the CW.

 

[wiegeabo]

First thing I thought of

 

[enterthemadness]

CBS Bumps it's Thursday Night Line-up to Mid-season for NFL games.



http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/cbs-and-nfl-network-to-offer-thursday-night-games/



has to suck for actors and their shows.

 

[Donut]

I guess some shows will move

 

[Shifty]

It doesn’t eat up too much of the schedule, only 5-6 weeks. However, with Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s CBS can only air 3 episodes in November and 3 in December. That doesn’t really build that much momentum, maybe for CBS shows that doesn’t matter.

It does cut down on reruns and they can have a proper launch of shows in January and air for 8 straight weeks.

This was mainly a defensive move from CBS to protect their live numbers on Thursday. This probably hurts NBC the most as they’ll have to keep Community and Parks and Rec around as sacrifices versus Thursday Night Football/CBS Comedies.

Big Bang Theory probably starts the season off on Mondays and then shifts to Thursdays in January. That way it can help launch the HIMYM-spinoff and raise the ratings for a sagging Monday night where NBC is now king.

For the 6 weeks of programming they need to fill, they could use the Survivor 3 hours finale on a Thursday instead of the usual Sunday to fill one week. So then that's just 5 weeks to fill. Or just go with their current Thursday night model.

 

[Sawyer]

http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/dra...-grant-timbermanbeverly-get-cbs-pilot-orders/

Dramas From John Cusack, David Marshall Grant & Timberman/Beverly Get CBS Pilot Orders
By NELLIE ANDREEVA

CBS has given pilot orders to untitled dramas from two of the most prolific producers at the moment: Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly. One of the pilots is executive produced by John Cusack, the other is an adaptation of the Israeli series Ran Quartet written/executive produced by David Marshall Grant (Smash). Both hail from CBS TV Studios where Timberman/Beverly is based.

The John Cusack drama is set in the world of Wall Street power and money. It was written by Taylor Elmore (Justified) and Ben Cavell from a story the two co-wrote with Cusack and Kevin McCabe. The four executive produce with Timberman and Beverly. There are no plans for Cusack, always sought after for pilots, to act.

The untitled David Marshall Grant project is a soapy medical show revolving around quadruplets – three brothers and a sister – who grew up on a reality show. In the Israeli Ran Quartet, created by Giyora Yahalom and Oren Jakobi, the four siblings had had their entire lives documented by a filmmaker until age 32, when the documentary stops and everyone comes to find the four’s real lives are quite different from the way they had been portrayed on TV. It ran on Israeli satcaster Yes for two seasons (check out the video below). CBS first took a stab at developing an adaptation of Ran Quartet during the 2009-10 season when the script, written by Revenge and Swingtown creator Mike Kelly and his brother Chris, also got to pilot stage. In that version, the quadruplets became quintuplets, thus the title Quinn-Tuplets. The network then teamed with Grant, Timberman and Beverly last season for a new take on Ran Quartet said to have more of a procedural element. It is now getting a pilot order.

The three are executive producing with Yona Wiesenthal, Avi Armoza, Eilon Ratzkovsky, Yahalom, Jakobi, Intrigue’s Tariq Jalil and David Garrett. The two CBS pilots join a straight-to-series order Timberman/Beverly just received for a David O. Russell/Susannah Grant drama at ABC. The duo has four other series on the air: Justified, Elementary, Unforgettable and Masters Of Sex.

 

[X-Ray]

The Messengers caught my interest.

A few post back about actors in high demand for pilots. House as Red in the Blacklist?

 

[Sawyer]

Yeah, but the show is all the better for Spader being involved.

 

[Sawyer]

http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/jace-alexander-to-direct-abc-pilot-agatha-michael-dinner-to-helm/

Jace Alexander To Direct ABC Pilot ‘Agatha’; Michael Dinner To Helm ‘Clemantine’
By NELLIE ANDREEVA

Jace Alexander is set to direct ABC drama pilot Agatha, while Michael Dinner will helm another ABC drama pilot, Clementine. Both projects hail from ABC Studios and studio-based mark Gordon Co. Agatha is a character-driven procedural about a former convict-turned-big-city criminologist who is brought in to help local police crack a case involving a perplexing disappearance. The chief detective she’s been hired to help is her father – and they haven’t talked in 15 years. Clementine centers on a habitual criminal who digs into the mystery of her origins after she becomes the target of a group of zealots who fear she possesses latent supernatural abilities that she will one day harness for either profound good or monstrous evil. Alexander, repped by ICM Partners and Fineman Entertainment, serves as co-exec producer/director on NBC’s The Blacklist. CAA-repped Dinner serves as director/executive producer on Justified.

 

[MiffaLadd_]

Interesting about Hugh Laurie. It's crazy to think the show wasn't made entirely with Spader in mind.