PILOT PICKUPS: Charlie's Angels, Good Christian Belles, Scandal, Revenge, The River, Pan Am, Once Upon a Time, Missing, Last Man Standing, Apt. 23, Man Up, Suburgatory, Work It
After a disappointing season for the most part and the continued problem of launching new dramas, ABC made some bold moves, picking up a whopping 13 shows (8 dramas, 5 comedies) for next season with one more comedy still possible. ABC had many promising dramas and picked up a bunch while passing on a few too. Here is a quick rundown:
One of the longtime frontrunners to get picked up was the reboot of the classic 1970s series Charlie's Angels. With some early casting news of bombshells Minka Kelly, Annie Ilonzeh, and Rachael Taylor as the angels, this has long been considered a favorite. And now with the success of Hawaii Five-0 on CBS, we probably will continue to see remakes pop up during pilot season.
Another hot title during pilot season has a tamer title but was picked up. Formerly known as "Good Christian Bitches," ABC picked up the series Good Christian Belles. With a strong cast including Leslie Bibb, Annie Potts, David James Elliott, and Kristin Chenoweth, the show could get a high profile timeslot but may see another name change as the replacement word "Belles" isn't getting great reception online.
Another drama picked up was Scandal from Shonda Rhimes. The show seemed to be getting mixed buzz but Rhimes pedigree was enough to earn it a pickup. Centered on a crisis management consultant, ABC may try to pair it with one of Rhimes' exisiting shows - Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.
An interesting pickup was Revenge. A re-imagining of "The Count of Monte Cristo" and starring Emily VanCamp, Revenge has an odd premise and could be a tough sell but this is the kind of creativity the broadcast networks need to try more often. It will be interesting to see how ABC markets this and where they will put it, if it even appears in the fall.
Another interesting pickup is horror drama The River. Compared to the hit movie Paranormal Activity, this is reportedly one of the scarier pilots in recent memory. It sounds like it could see a big debut but might be hard to sustain in the long run. It might have been better served as a limited mini-series run but we will see.
Also picked up was glamorous period drama Pan Am. Following the success of Mad Men, this is one of two 1960s pilots to get picked up by the broadcast networks (NBC's Playboy is the other one). Pan Am stars Christina Ricci and the pilot had good buzz, especially for its artistic quality. But will it be a niche show? Again, I applaud ABC for taking chances with these pilots.
Speaking of taking chances, another pickup is fantasy drama Once Upon a Time. Set in a fairy tale setting, Once Upon a Time has a very interesting premise with characters such as Snow White, Rumplestiltskin, and Prince Charming. Like so many other dramas, ABC's marketing is going to be key this year. They have some fresh and exciting pilots, but they'll need to be able to sell them. NBC is sort of in the same boat with a few similarly-themed pilots and also promising drama titles.
Finally, as announced awhile ago, the Ashley Judd drama Missing is already going forward as a series. It was rumored to get a late summer/early fall launch but it remains to be seen how that will impact the schedule.
On the comedy front, ABC picked up the frontrunner Last Man Standing starring Tim Allen. Allen had a long, successful run on ABC with Home Improvement in the 1990s and now brings a classic multicamera show back to the Alphabet net. This show was a hot title because of Allen and reportedly had a great taping. It would be nice to see some classic multicamera sitcoms have success on networks other than CBS.
Another comedy pilot picked up was Apt. 23. Formerly known as "Don't Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23," this show was the second show to get the "b word" dropped from its title at ABC. Still, it tested well and could fit in well with the more adult comedies of Cougar Town and Happy Endings.
Also picked up was Man Up starring Chris Moynihan and Teri Polo. This show was relatively quiet on buzz but earned a pickup anyway. The single camera comedy sounds a bit like a niche show but we'll see how it turns out. It could be a midseason entry.
The comedy Suburgatory was also picked up. With a family comedy premise of a NYC teen moving to a cookie cutter community, this single camera sitcom might be a good fit between The Middle and Modern Family.
Finally, the cross dressing comedy Work It was picked up. With a premise similar to the 1980s comedy Bosom Buddies, this show constantly seemed to overperform during pilot season and that earned it a pickup. Since it is the only other multicamera sitcom to get picked up, it wouldn't be surprising to see it paired with the Tim Allen show, possibly on a night other than Wednesday.
One of the longtime frontrunners to get picked up was the reboot of the classic 1970s series Charlie's Angels. With some early casting news of bombshells Minka Kelly, Annie Ilonzeh, and Rachael Taylor as the angels, this has long been considered a favorite. And now with the success of Hawaii Five-0 on CBS, we probably will continue to see remakes pop up during pilot season.
Another hot title during pilot season has a tamer title but was picked up. Formerly known as "Good Christian Bitches," ABC picked up the series Good Christian Belles. With a strong cast including Leslie Bibb, Annie Potts, David James Elliott, and Kristin Chenoweth, the show could get a high profile timeslot but may see another name change as the replacement word "Belles" isn't getting great reception online.
Another drama picked up was Scandal from Shonda Rhimes. The show seemed to be getting mixed buzz but Rhimes pedigree was enough to earn it a pickup. Centered on a crisis management consultant, ABC may try to pair it with one of Rhimes' exisiting shows - Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.
An interesting pickup was Revenge. A re-imagining of "The Count of Monte Cristo" and starring Emily VanCamp, Revenge has an odd premise and could be a tough sell but this is the kind of creativity the broadcast networks need to try more often. It will be interesting to see how ABC markets this and where they will put it, if it even appears in the fall.
Another interesting pickup is horror drama The River. Compared to the hit movie Paranormal Activity, this is reportedly one of the scarier pilots in recent memory. It sounds like it could see a big debut but might be hard to sustain in the long run. It might have been better served as a limited mini-series run but we will see.
Also picked up was glamorous period drama Pan Am. Following the success of Mad Men, this is one of two 1960s pilots to get picked up by the broadcast networks (NBC's Playboy is the other one). Pan Am stars Christina Ricci and the pilot had good buzz, especially for its artistic quality. But will it be a niche show? Again, I applaud ABC for taking chances with these pilots.
Speaking of taking chances, another pickup is fantasy drama Once Upon a Time. Set in a fairy tale setting, Once Upon a Time has a very interesting premise with characters such as Snow White, Rumplestiltskin, and Prince Charming. Like so many other dramas, ABC's marketing is going to be key this year. They have some fresh and exciting pilots, but they'll need to be able to sell them. NBC is sort of in the same boat with a few similarly-themed pilots and also promising drama titles.
Finally, as announced awhile ago, the Ashley Judd drama Missing is already going forward as a series. It was rumored to get a late summer/early fall launch but it remains to be seen how that will impact the schedule.
On the comedy front, ABC picked up the frontrunner Last Man Standing starring Tim Allen. Allen had a long, successful run on ABC with Home Improvement in the 1990s and now brings a classic multicamera show back to the Alphabet net. This show was a hot title because of Allen and reportedly had a great taping. It would be nice to see some classic multicamera sitcoms have success on networks other than CBS.
Another comedy pilot picked up was Apt. 23. Formerly known as "Don't Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23," this show was the second show to get the "b word" dropped from its title at ABC. Still, it tested well and could fit in well with the more adult comedies of Cougar Town and Happy Endings.
Also picked up was Man Up starring Chris Moynihan and Teri Polo. This show was relatively quiet on buzz but earned a pickup anyway. The single camera comedy sounds a bit like a niche show but we'll see how it turns out. It could be a midseason entry.
The comedy Suburgatory was also picked up. With a family comedy premise of a NYC teen moving to a cookie cutter community, this single camera sitcom might be a good fit between The Middle and Modern Family.
Finally, the cross dressing comedy Work It was picked up. With a premise similar to the 1980s comedy Bosom Buddies, this show constantly seemed to overperform during pilot season and that earned it a pickup. Since it is the only other multicamera sitcom to get picked up, it wouldn't be surprising to see it paired with the Tim Allen show, possibly on a night other than Wednesday.
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