News Briefs : HBO orders Leftovers to series

... It's not HBO, it's leftovers. Well, it will be The Leftovers. The cable network has ordered to series the latest project from Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof, the slightly supernatural drama The Leftovers. Based on the book by Tom Perrotta, The Leftovers follows what happens after the biblical Rapture takes all the righteous people away and leaves the Earth populated with everyone who didn't get called up to heaven. Specifically, the series will center on a group of people who must survive without their more devout loved ones. Liv Tyler, Justin Theroux, Christopher Eccleston, Amy Brenneman, Emily Meade, Michael Gaston, and Chris Zylka are all in the cast, and HBO has asked for 10 episodes.

... Former Awkward. showrunner and creator Lauren Iungerich has received a put pilot commitment for Bitch off the Ol' Block, a comedy about a woman who is reunited with her teenage daughter. The daughter turns out to be a smart-assed version of the mother and moves in with the mother and her roommates, who all raise her. Another twist on the family member moving in at an inopportune time!

... Enlightened creator and star Mike White has a new project cookin' at NBC. The show is about a young 16-year-old chef prodigy who works in a kitchen with his temperamental idol! NBC has given White's project a put pilot commitment.

... Hot on the heels of Magic Mike and the general idea that hunky half-naked men lure eyeballs, Fox has made a put pilot commitment to The Whole Shebang, a new comedy from producer Jennifer Garner and writer Jason Micallef (Butter). So how do gyrating washboards in banana hammocks fit in? A newly single soccer mom inherits a male strip club and discovers a supportive yet dysfunctional surrogate family within.

... Syfy has acquired the Canadian werewolf series Bitten for broadcast. The series stars Laura Vandervoort (Smallville, V) as Elena Michaels, the lone werewolf in existence. Elena ditches her pack and moves to a new city, but what do you know? A bunch of dead bodies pop up and next thing she knows, she's back working with her old gang of werepeople. Syfy will air all 13 episodes of the first season. Bitten was originally broadcast on Canada's Entertainment One.

CASTING NEWS

... The Walking Dead will add Christian Serratos to play the character Rosita Espinosa, who appeared in the comics, for Season 4. The casting announcement says she'll recur in Season 4 with the option to become a regular in Season 5, so I like her chances to survive!

... ABC's Once Upon a Time in Wonderland has found its voice for the Caterpillar. Veteran punk rocker Iggy Pop of The Stooges will speak for the drug-huffing butterfly worm. Other voices in the cast include John Lithgow for the White Rabbit and Keith David for the Cheshire Cat. Iggy takes over the job from fellow musician Roger Daltry, who lent his voice to the Caterpillar when Once Upon a Time used the character. [EW]

... Billie Piper and Helen McCrory have been cast in Showtime's Penny Dreadful. The eight-episode horror series follows several characters from literature, including Dr. Frankenstein and Dorian Grey, as they sit on the fringes of society in old London. Piper (Secret Diary of a Call Girl) will play an Irish immigrant trying to escape her past, and McRory (Harry Potter) will be a "spiritualist." Josh Hartnett, Timothy Dalton, and Eva Green are also involved in the show. Look for Penny Dreadful in 2014.

... Everybody Loves Raymond brother Brad Garrett will drop by CBS's The Crazy Ones for a couple episodes. The exact details of his role aren't yet known, but his character Lewis will be part of the ad firm that Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar's characters work for.

... LeVar Burton will be back on Community this season. Look out, Troy.

News Briefs : FOX and NBC join the comic craze

In the news; FOX does Gotham with no Batman, while NBC enters the world of magic. The growing trend of American stations and networks of  remaking foreign TV shows instead of coming up with new ideas continues;




... Not wanting to be left out of the superhero genre now that Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has taken over the airwaves, FOX has decided to get in on the genre action with a Batman-adjacent project titled Gotham that will explore Commissioner James Gordon and the bad guys who made the fake city famous.

.. NBC is also jumping on the Comic Book trend with a Constantine series. Based on the DC comics which was adapted some years ago into a Keanu Reeves starrer.

... A&E has secured the rights to the French supernatural drama Les Revenants (which translates to The Returned). The series is set in a small town where people start coming back from the dead without having aged at all, and with no recollection of actually dying. There's a rumor that Carlton Cuse (Lost, Bates Motel) is in talks to adapt the project. But  Sundance Channel recently acquired the rights to broadcast the original series, which will air in the U.S. beginning October 31.

... Damon Wayans Jr. (Second Generation Wayans) is teaming up with FOX for his next project. Man/Child is about two single dads who move in together and struggle to strike a balance being a responsible adult and living a life of debauchery.

... Spartacus vets Aaron Helbing and Todd Helbing are developing a new series for Starz about an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent who infiltrates a Mexican drug cartel. The project, titled Gringo, was inspired by the nonfiction book "The Shadow Catcher" by Hipolito Acosta.

... Bones creator Hart Hanson, along with The Secret Circle creator Andrew Miller, will adapt Chris Ewan's book series "The Good Thief’s Guide" for ABC. The story follows Charlie Howard, a charming fellow who travels the world while blogging about his adventures. Oh yeah, and he steals stuff for funsies (and sometimes profit). Each season will be set in a new exotic location and focus on one particular heist

CASTING NEWS

... Scott Wolf (Perception) is heading to NBC's midseason drama The Night Shift as a day shift trauma surgeon engaged to Jill Flint's doctor character.

... Laura Benanti (Go On), who can next be seen on NBC's upcoming live Sound of Music special, is dropping by Elementary! She'll play a nanny who quickly becomes the main suspect in her employer's death

... Hey, Game of Thrones book fans, the role of Hizdahr zo Loraq has finally been cast for the upcoming fourth season of the TV show. This means nothing to those of us who are still trying to finish Book 1, but the role has gone to British actor Joel Fry (10,000 BC). Hizdahr plays a role in Daenerys Targaryen's story.

... David Milch's new project, The Money, has scored another big-name actor in Nathan Lane. He'll join Brendan Gleeson in the series about an American media mogul's dynastic family, playing Gordon McCarren, a reporter for the New York Herald who hasn't had a byline in weeks and is desperate for a good story to come along.

... Jack Coleman (remember Heroes?, Castle, Burn Notice), has landed a recurring role on ABC's Scandal. The details of his character, however, are being safely guarded by Shonda Rhimes' minions. But we can tell you that his first appearance will happen sometime in October.

... The casting for Syfy's new pilot Dominion has really gotten under way. Anthony Stewart Head, who played Rupert Giles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, has been cast as David Weel, the power-hungry president of the Senate of Vega. Also new to the project are Roxanne McKee (Game of Thrones) as Claire Rysen, the closest thing Vega has to a princess; Luke Allen-Gale (Ripper Street), who'll play William Weel, the son of David and the Head of the Church of the Savior; and Shivani Ghai (Bride & Prejudice) as Arika, a lead diplomat sent from Helena, a mysterious and militant matriarchal society. They join the previously announced Christopher Egan and Tom Wisdom.

... Lucy, the socially awkward lady friend of Raj's who dumped him in The Big Bang Theory's May finale, might be experiencing a change of heart with regard to Koothrappali. Actress Kate Micucci will reprise her role in the November 14 episode.

... Warehouse 13 vet Joanne Kelly has booked a major recurring role on CBS's thriller Hostages. She'll play Vanessa, an ambassador and the sister of the first lady.

Revolution, Season 2 Premiere : this Show didn't evolve and move forward, it revolved on itself.

Revolution S02E01: "Born in the U.S.A."


   One of this season's most exciting new fall shows is Revolution, NBC's new drama about a world that's 15-and-a-half years removed from a worldwide blackout and six months removed from a domestic nuclear attack. Wait, what? Revolution is in its second season? Are you sure?  Season 1 of the NBC sci-fi series was dissed by creator Eric Kripke himself, and by May, the show had lost a large portion of its initial audience.

That's the mental approach show creator Eric Kripke hopes viewers will take going into Season 2, and really, it's the only way Revolution stands a chance at ever fulfilling the potential it had when it was but a wee logline gestating in Kripke's brain. At Comic-Con this past July, Kripke said that Season 1 was full of mistakes and crashed several times, rendering it barely able to crawl across the finish line. Electricity was too common in a world that wasn't supposed to have any, there were guns everywhere, and the light switch that powered everything was the only thing people talked about, which meant people talked about it way too much.

So what did Kripke do to kick off Season 2? He blew up the whole damn show. He nuked it—literally—by letting the bombs that were launched in the Season 1 finale fall on Atlanta and Philadelphia in the opening moments of Season 2. Season 1, you are dust. Let's pretend you never happened. Not only was it the right choice to make for this one-time hit, it helped the series experience its own... Revolution. Bam!

All that's left in the ruins of Season 1 is probably what the show should have been in the first place: bleak, filthy, and chaotic. Gone are the Disney overtones, the terrible dialogue, and the useless characters ; in their place are a new team of writers (Supernatural's Ben Edlund, Defiance's Rockne S. O'Bannon) and a new attitude. Revolution felt like a completely different show in "Born in the U.S.A." Maybe the episode should've been called "Reborn in the U.S.A.," because aside from the familiar faces, it was almost unrecognizable. And dammit, it was good. Well, compared to what we were used to.

We can see the effect of the destruction on all of the show's core characters, too. They all played a role in the obliteration of millions, and it's weighing them heavily, particularly with Rachel. And the nuclear hangover has carried over into the most important aspect of the show: its tone.

Let's briefly talk about what actually happened in the premiere. Miles, Rachel and Aaron were all hanging out in the fake town of Willoughby, Texas, feeling mostly miserable about vaporizing the East Coast. Rachel's dad was there, and he's a good addition to the group as a man who can lend more insight into the pre-blackout romantic entanglement of Miles and Rachel. The threat of well-organized militia armies has been replaced by the threat of savage, independently run war clans, bringing a Mad Max feel to the show, these guys aren't dopes like the hapless fools of the Monroe Militia. They hang people! They're actually scary! And they scooped up Miles (who goes by Stu now, btw) and friendly Sheriff Mason.

Aaron now has an interest in entomology because he witnessed a massive firefly fireworks show. He also talked about other critters acting odd, as though nature was ready to reclaim the planet from the human vermin that destroyed it. I seriously thought Aaron was a goner when he took a sabre to the chest and actually died at the end of the episode, but the final frame showed Aaron gasping and springing back to life. You got me, Revolution. But what does it mean? I guess that's what next week is for.

And how about the new Charlie? I'm kind of liking this version of her. She's sluttier, more driven, and badass than she was in Season 1. Based on the limited time we spent with her, she's already looking like a much more improved Charlie. Charlie stalked Monroe to New Vegas (helllllo, Fallout), where the latter was engaging in some bare-chested boxing for sport. The citizens of Under the Dome took an unbelievable eight days to start punching each other over resources, but here on Revolution it's been six months since the bombs dropped (plus an extra 15 years of no electricity before that), and all hope was lost five months and 30 days ago. What else is there to do? Charlie tried to kill Monroe to take him off her list, but before she could put an arrow through his skull, Monroe was whisked away by some unknowns.

Over in the Great Plains Nation, the Nevilles roamed around what looked like a campground for Bonnaroo in search of Tom's wife, but things were looking bleak. Tom was a broken man without a purpose until Secretary Justine Allerford, a representative of the U.S. government who was displaced by savages like President Kelly of the Georgia Federation and Monroe of the Monroe Militia showed up. They're back to reclaim the country and supposedly make it great again, but all I got from them was a nutjob Tea Party vibe. Tom did too, because he stopped trying to kill himself and figured that Randall was working with them, therefore they're responsible for his wife's death. "I am going to rip them apart from the inside until they are begging me to die."

The world is different, the characters are different, the writing is different. And that's the best news I have about Revolution. I'm not foolish enough to say that the show is back on track. One better episode doesn't erase the 22 hours of disappointment we trudged through last season. But given the circumstances, Revolution returned in the best way possible. We'll see if it can keep moving in the right direction.

Culled from TV.Com

News Briefs : A "Rambo" series? 50 Cent produces series now too? New casting news

... Sylvester Stallone is in talks to join a potential TV series based on his hit movie franchise Rambo. The project, is still in the early stages, but Stallone would work with the show on a creative level and could potentially reprise his iconic role. I don't really want to be the person to say this, but isn't it about time we stopped with the remakes, and the sequels, and the adaptations? Have we seriously run out of all the good ideas already? After the failure of Beverly Hills Cop to get a series order, am not holding my breath on this

News Briefs : Read the rest of The Borgias on ur tablets, Homeland almost killed Brody, (twice).

... Apparently Nicholas Brody escaped death twice on Homeland. According to the series' writers, who recently discussed the topic at a TV Academy panel, that was the original plan, but the bigwigs at Showtime stepped in and decided it just wasn't his time. Oh, and the best part? They did the same thing in Season 1 when the writers were debating offing him. The sniper shooting and confrontation with his former marine buddy in Season 1, and the explosion at C.I.A. headquarters in Season 2 would have been perfect situations to kill him off.

Shows: Canceled, Ended Renewed or Unknown

This is a sesasonal cumulative list of recent changes (not a full year).
However, please feel free to continue discussing and or posting/sharing information. If you see a show information page with outdated information (48 hours or more), please post it in the comments.

======================================================
Canceled, Ended, or Not Renewed
======================================================

1600 Penn
30 Rock
666 Park Avenue
90210
Alphas
Animal Practice
Beavis and Butt-head (The last episodes aired in December 2011 and there hasn't been any
...word about making more. I'm calling it Canceled)
Ben And Kate
Body Of Proof
Buckwild (Canceled one week after Shain Gandee's death)
Burn Notice (Final season to premiere June 2013)
CSI: NY
Cult
Damages
Deception
Dexter (final season to premiere June 2013)
Do No Harm
Don't Trust The B---- in Apartment 23
Emily Owens, M.D.
Eureka
Fairly Legal
Family Tools
Fringe
Futurama (the 13 remaining episodes will air summer 2013)
Go On
Golden Boy
Gossip Girl
Guys With Kids
Happy Endings
How To Live With Your Parents...
Last Resort
Made In Jersey
Malibu Country
Office, The
Partners
Private Practice
Red Widow
Rock Center with Brian Williams
Rules of Engagement
Smash
Southland
Spartacus
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
The Cleveland Show
The Mob Doctor
The New Normal
The Secret Life of the American Teenager
Touch
Tyler Perry's House of Payne
Up All Night
Vegas
Wedding Band
Weeds
Whitney
Zero Hour

======================================================
Renewed
======================================================
2 Broke Girls
American Dad
Arrow
Banshee
Beauty And The Beast
Blue Bloods
Bob's Burgers
Bones
Castle
Chicago Fire
Community
Cracked
Criminal Minds
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Defiance
Elementary
Family Guy
Glee
Grey's Anatomy
Grimm
Hannibal
Hart Of Dixie
Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
How I Met Your Mother
Last Man Standing
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit
Mike & Molly
Modern Family
Nashville
NCIS
NCIS: Los Angeles
New Girl
Nikita (short season)
Once Upon A Time
Orphan Black
Parenthood
Parks and Recreation
Person Of Interest
Raising Hope
Revenge
Revolution (2012)
Saving Hope (Dropped by NBC, continuing on CTV)
Scandal
Suburgatory
Suits
Supernatural
The Big Bang Theory
The Carrie Diaries
The Following
The Good Wife
The Mentalist
The Middle
The Mindy Project
The Neighbors (2012)
The Simpsons
The Vampire Diaries
Two and a Half Men
Vikings

======================================================
Not Canceled or Renewed Yet
======================================================

Borgias
Duets
The Blue Rose

Pilots We Hope Don't Get Picked up

Picking out 20 pilots we want to see get made was a breeze, but wile sorting through the list of potential new network shows, we also noticed that a lot of DO NOT WANT options were piling up.

Of course, these selections are based on loglines and casting and not a single frame of actual footage, so there is a one-thousand-percent chance that I am wrong here.

Leave comments on which show u would like to get series order for next season.
---- King John
Network: ABC
Genre: A multi-camera John Leguizamo comedy about John Leguizamo
Starring: John Leguizamo (Spawn), John Leguizamo (Ice Age), John Leguizamo (Moulin Rouge), and John Leguizamo (ER). From John Leguizamo.
What it's about in one sentence: It's based on John Leguizamo's life as a guy from the Bronx who makes it big, and focuses on how he stays grounded with his family by staying true to his roots.
Why we don't want to see it: Nothing against Leguizamo, but watching shows from aging actors and comedians making multi-camera comedies about their lives doesn't sound like a fun way to spend our evenings. (See also: Jim Gaffigan's pilot at CBS.)
Potential saving graces: How about some good exterior establishing shots of New York!

---- Westside
Network: ABC
Genre: A "Romeo and Juliet... TODAY!" drama
Starring: Jennifer Beals (Flashdance!), Bruce Greenwood (Star Trek), Odette Annable (House)
What it's about in one sentence: Two rival families battle for control of California's Venice Beach, but when a forbidden romance emerges between members of the warring factions, uh-oh!
Why we don't want to see it: This has bland soap written all over it, and the fact that it isn't set in a very interesting place or era (really? Present-day Venice Beach?) doesn't bode well for the show's creativity unless Venice's bodybuilders and those guys who paint themselves gold and stand really still mix it up.
Potential saving graces: A good soap is all about its characters, so it's impossible to tell how rich Westside's roster will be from just a boring logline. If the characters are good, it doesn't matter where the action takes place. But we're really praying for bodybuilders.

---- Untitled Tad Quill project
Network: CBS
Genre: Multi-camera comedy stopover for Broadway stars
Starring: Matthew Broderick (Ferris Bueller), Kristin Chenoweth (Pushing Daisies)
What it's about in one sentence: A widowed father balances getting back into the dating pool and raising his 12-year-old son.
Why we don't want to see it: Well this doesn't sound too good, does it?
Potential saving graces: Broderick and Chenoweth, both Tony-award winners, could spontaneously burst into song at any moment and fill our hearts with joy. But they'll more likely fill our mouths with vomit.

---- I Suck at Girls
Network: Fox
Genre: A comedy from the guy who brought you Sh*t My Dad Says
Starring: Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: SVU), Alex Kapp Horner (The New Adventures of Old Christine)
What it's about in one sentence: Why don't you try to make sense of this official logline: "Based on Justin Halpern's book I Suck at Girls, it's a story about a boy becoming a man, and a man becoming a father, in a time before coming of age was something you could Google."
Why we don't want to see it: Halpern is the same man who gave us the Twitter feed "Sh*t My Dad Says," which was turned into the CBS series that made us all think "Sh*t CBS makes." Do we give the guy a second chance?
Potential saving graces: Ummm... hey look over there! *runs away*

---- Delirium
Network: Fox
Genre: "Love stinks" sci-fi drama
Starring: Emma Roberts (Julia Roberts' niece, and more importantly, Eric Roberts' daughter), Darren Kragasoff (The Secret Life of the American Teenager), Billie Campbell (The Killing)
What it's about in one sentence: In the future, love is outlawed and a medical procedure can remove a person's ability to go goo-goo-eyed over someone, but one girl falls head over heels just months before she's due to be de-loved!
Why we don't want to see it: Like, gag me with a spoon, right? This is going to be The Ending to the Fifth Element: The Series, isn't it? As a huge supporter of love, I'll need a BIG reason to believe in a society that outlaws the emotion, and if that reason doesn't suffice, it will be a fatal flaw.
Potential saving grace: Maybe the de-loving procedure will be particularly gruesome?

---- Bad Teacher
Network: CBS
Genre: Single-camera second-chance for a bad movie
Starring: Ari Graynor (Fringe), Ryan Hansen (2 Broke Girls, Party Down, Veronica Mars), David Alan Grier (In Living Color), Sara Gilbert (Roseanne), Kristen Davis (Sex and the City)
What it's about in one sentence: Based on the 2011 Cameron Diaz film of the same name, a potty-mouthed divorcee gets a job as a teacher in order to find her next husband and what? That doesn't even make sense. Is she trying to marry school kids? If so, then okay. Great plan.
Why we don't want to see it: Who's the genius who thinks a bad movie will make a good television show?
Potential saving graces: We actually like the cast, particularly Hansen and Davis. And we're curious to see what Grier is up to these days.

---- Welcome to the Family
Network: NBC
Genre: Culture clashin' single-camera comedy
Starring: Mike O'Malley (Glee), Mary McCormack (In Plain Sight), Ricardo Chavira (Desperate Housewives), NOT Rob Schneider
What it's about in one sentence: A Caucasian family and a Latino family are bonded after kids from each clan fall in love and get preggers.
Why we don't want to see it: Oh this again?
Potential saving graces: It's Modern Family with just the Jay and Gloria part, and I guess I'm being generous by saying that.

---- Untitled Greg Daniels/Robert Padnick comedy
Network: NBC
Genre: Single-camera comedy about being single
Starring: Mike Castle, Adhir Kalyan (Aliens in America), Eric Andre (Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23).
What it's about in one sentence: One of those "group of single friends trying to survive the labyrinth of mind games and human suffering that is dating in your early 20s" comedies, and yes, that's from the actual logline.
Why we don't want to see it: Aside from Happy Endings and maybe How I Met Your Mother, can you think of another Friends-ish comedy that's worked? This is a tough gig.
Potential saving graces: Eric F[censored]ing Andre! Also, The Office's Greg Daniels is behind it, so maybe it's one of those rare 20-something dating friends shows that works.

---- Reign
Network: The CW
Genre: Period piece young adult romance
Starring: Adelaide Kane (Power Rangers RPM), Toby Regbo, Torrance Coombs
What it's about in one sentence: Historical fiction about 15-year-old Mary Queen of Scots as she's betrothed to a prince and keeps her BFFs in her court.
Why we don't want to see it: This is more of a business decision than a statement on quality. The CW is on the verge of being a genre network, and this just wouldn't fit in with its current offerings. Unless Mary Queen of Scots had superpowers! Think about it, CW.
Potential saving graces: Maybe this will get kids interested in history again! No? Okay. Nevermind.

---- I Am Victor
Network: NBC
Genre: John Stamos
Starring: John Stamos (Full House)
What it's about in one sentence: It's been described as House but with a divorce attorney played by John Stamos instead of a doctor.
Why we don't want to see it: John Stamos and NBC... not sure which one is more desperate. This is basically Harry's Law with a male lead who happens to be John Stamos. Also, the whole "House but..." pitch is tired.
Potential saving grace: Possible Full House reunion for the former cast members who can drag themselves out of their beds. Also, John Stamos!

NBC Picks Up 8 Comedies Including Greg Daniels’ ‘Friday Night Dinner’, Dick Wolf-Produced Drama, Jason Katims/Jason Ritter Project

NBC brought the total number of pilots picked up today to 10 with two more comedy orders: to Greg Daniels’ adaptation of the British comedy "Friday Night Dinner" and an untitled half-hour produced by Jimmy Fallon. Both are from Universal TV.

"Friday Night Dinner" is a single-camera about a quirky family that has dinner together every Friday night. Daniels is executive producing with Howard Klein and the original series’ producer Big Talk TV. The project has already been doing preliminary casting, with David Koechner eyed for a role.

The Jimmy Fallon multi-camera project, written by Charlie Grandy, revolves around three thirtysomething guys who enjoy the adventures of parenting despite the fact they haven’t grown up themselves. Fallon, Grandy and Amy Ozols are executive producing. This marks the first pilot for Fallon’s company Holiday Road.

UPDATE: NBC has picked up three more comedy pilots: "Daddy’s Girl", a spec by Dana Klein produced by Aaron Kaplan, and projects by Hilary Winston and Stephen Falk.

The multi-camera "Daddy’s Girl", from 20th Century Fox TV and Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment, is about a young woman who returns home from overseas to find her father is seriously dating the “mean girl” from her high school. The spec was recently taken out, garnering strong interest by NBC and CBS, with NBC stepping up with a pilot order. Klein and Kaplan are executive producing. This marks Kaplan’s fourth broadcast pilot so far this season and his second comedy spec to get a production order at NBC, in addition to "Isabel", which is in production. Additionally, Kaplan has "The Manzanis" starring Kirstie Alley and an untitled Dan Fogelman comedy at ABC.

Stephen Falk’s Next Caller Please, from Lionsgate TV, is a single-camera gender comedy focusing on a brash alpha male DJ and his new, plucky, feminist co-host set in the offices of a satellite radio station. Lead cable player Lionsgate TV made a big push in broadcast development this season, and this is the company’s first broadcast pilot order in years.

The Hilary Winston single-camera project, from Sony TV and Jamie Tarses’ Fanfare, centers on a shy, focused woman who, after being dumped by her fiance, leans on her co-workers to help her come out of her shell and plot her revenge. Winston is executive producing with Tarses and Julia Franz.

PRIMETIME PILOT PANIC: The Latest Buzz

It’s pilot screening time. CBS just started viewing its pilots, with the other networks slated to follow over the next few days. Feedback from the screenings and extensive focus group testing inform the networks’ series pickup decisions and are capable of catapulting a pilot from an also-run to frontrunner status overnight, as it happened with CBS’ "Blue Bloods" three years ago. Here is what I hear as of this weekend, with information still missing on a few late pilots.



ABC ---- Drama "Lucky 7" may live up to its name. The blue-collar ensemble about gas station employees who win the lottery seemed a little off brand for ABC and its glitzy dramas. But I hear the project based on a British format, which hadn’t drawn much attention, came in above expectations, making it a contender in what’s shaping to be a very tight race. It’s tight because two slots have already been penciled in for "Marvel‘s S.H.I.E.L.D". and the "Once Upon A Time" spinoff, whose early footage I hear ABC brass liked. Also boosted by corporate synergy is major contender "Big Thunder", based on the Disney ride. Word is ABC may choose one of its two soapy pilots, "Westside" and "Betrayal", with "Westside" having the edge at the moment. (However, "Betrayal‘s" David Zabel has two irons in the fire as he is also behind "Lucky 7".) The gothic soap "Gothica" has cooled off a bit while high-concept "The Returned", about deceased coming back to life as their old selves, is heating up after another great pilot directing performance by Charles McDougall. Among the character procedurals, "Murder In Manhattan", "Doubt", "Killer Women" and "Influence" all seem in the mix.
"Bad Management", the untitled Adam Goldberg project, and "Back In The Game" (Cullen Bros.) are still getting solid traction on the comedy side, along with female starring vehicles "Trophy Wives" (Malin Akerman) and Rebel Wilson’s "Super Fun Night". I hear "Super Fun Night" is not exactly where ABC brass want it to be and will likely require tweaking but the network isn’t ready to pass up the opportunity to have hot Wilson on its air. Most of ABC’s comedies seem to be still in contention, including "Spy", "Mixology" and "Middle Age Rage", with John Leguizamo’s "King John" holding down the fort on the multi-camera side.



NBC ---- NBC appears very pleased with their comedy pilots, including the pilot for the Michael J. Fox project, which already has a 22-episode order. I hear the network brass feel their half-hour development is so strong, they may bet heavily on new series and hardly keep any of the existing comedy series (besides "Parks & Recreation", of course). Among the NBC comedy pilots that are hot are "About A Boy", "Welcome to The Family", "Family Guide" (D.J. Nash); Greg Daniels’ "Mr. Robinson" starring Craig Robinson, the Sean Hayes starrer "Sean Saves the World"; "Assistance" starring Krysten Ritter and Alfred Molina; and Bill Lawrence’s "Undateable". "The Gates" is a wild card, with the late John Mulaney pilot garnering promising early buzz.
"The Blacklist" continues to be super-hot on the drama side, with the untitled Rand Ravich in contention, along with JJ Abrams’ "Believe". Despite bumpy production, which saw the departure of executive producer Katie Jacobs, "I Am Victor" seems to have a shot, maybe competing with another starring vehicle, "Ironside". Also in the mix are the comic book-driven "The Sixth Gun", the "Chicago Fire" cop drama spinoff, medical drama "After Hours" and the modern day "Hatfields & McCoys".

FOX ---- No major changes in the pilot standings at Fox. Dude police/Army comedies Goor/Schur and Enlisted as well as Assistants and Friends And Family are going strong, with I Suck At Girls as a wild card. Rake, Gang Related and Human are still solid on the drama side. Sleepy Hollow and Delirium may go head to head, with Sleepy Hollow slight ahead at the moment.

CBS ---- CBS is once again hard to read, with many projects in contention for very few slots. Beverly Hills Cop still seems like a frontrunner, with Hostages, The Advocates and the NCIS: LA spinoff in the running and Second Sight, Intelligence, The Surgeon General, The Ordained and Backstrom in the mix. On the comedy side, Chuck Lorre’s Mom continues its march to the fall schedule. Greg Garcia has two horses in the race, a multi-camera comedy which is getting stronger buzz, and single-camera Super Clyde. On the multi-camera side, Friends With Better Lives continues to track well. On the single-camera side, the Robin Williams starrer The Crazy Ones is going strong, with the untitled Rob Greenberg in the mix, along with Bad Teacher and Rottenberg/Zuritsky.

CW ---- The CW already kicked off the new series pickup season on Friday with an order to The Vampire Diaries spinoff "The Originals". Vying to join it are two futuristic/sci-fi dramas, "The Tomorrow People" and "The 100", and royal teen soap "Reign". Just-renewed "Beauty And The Beast" has a potential new companion in another drama about an unlikely pair of star-crossed lovers, the human-alien romance "Oxygen". For now, "The Selection" 2.0 seems to be following the trajectory of the original pilot unless it gets a last-minute boost.

TNT ---- Along with its broadcast brethren, TNT also is getting ready to green-light new series as early as this week. Both pilots in consideration, "Legends" and "The Last Ship", look hopeful to get the nod.

AMC ---- Over at AMC, "Turn" is turning up the heat.