Here is the second installment of Deadline’s Pilot Panic 2018 that tracks buzz on broadcast pilots. A month before the upfronts, cuts have finally started to come in but it’s still early, with some multi-camera comedy pilots yet to shoot, and network execs just starting to see the finished pilots. That’s why the information below is preliminary. By end of next week we should start getting a fuller picture of where most pilots stand.
ABC’s DJ Nash ensemble A Million Little Things and the Eva Longoria-produced Grand Hotel, toplined by Demian Bichir and Roselyn Sanchez continue to gain early momentum on the drama side. Several cop projects also are heating up. That includes pilots The Finest aka Holmes Sisters, The Mission as well as the Nathan Fillion starrer The Rookie, which has a straight-to-series order. Beyond that, mystery Salvage, about an ex-cop, has gotten some traction, Courtney Kemp’s Get Christie Love has been an early favorite, and Marcia Clark’s The Fixis considered a possibility.
Related 2018 ABC Pilots
Early standouts on the comedy side include Single Parents, starring Taran Killam and Brad Garrett, the untitled Tim Doyle 1970s family comedy, and the modern blended family comedy Steps starring Ginnifer Goodwin. Additionally, The Goldbergs spinoff, whose pilot aired as an episode of The Goldbergs this season and got good response, continues to be in contention. Beyond that, Southern Hospitality (fka Three Rivers) and Most Likely To are being mentioned, and there are solid expectations for Man of the House, which is headed to its taping.
Romantic musical drama Mixtape continues to be a standout at Fox, with the retooled The Passage also doing well early on. Additionally, the projects from Empire co-creator/executive producer Danny Strong and former Empire executive producer/showrunner Ilene Chaiken, the Untitled Ilene Chaiken/Melissa Scrivner Love and Untitled Danny Strong/David Elliot, also are being talked about.
Related 2018 Fox Pilots
In comedy, the multi-camera Rel, starring Lil Rel Howery, and the Tom Lennon starrer Dan the Weatherman are getting strong early buzz, with Daddy Issues, starring Erin Foster and Don Johnson, also in the mix.
The CW’s two reboots, Charmed and Roswell, continue to get early attention, along with football drama Spencer (aka untitled April Blair), executive produced by Greg Berlanti, In the Dark, about a blind woman and her dog, and the Supernatural spinoff Wayward Sisters, which aired as an episode of the mothership series and was well received. Mortician drama Playing Dead is also a possibility.
Related 2018 The CW Pilots
Dick Wolf’s drama F.B.I. which has a series order at CBS, continues to enjoy strong momentum and is already staffing. Investigative drama Murder, starring Michael Chiklis, also is getting early buzz. God Friended Me is being mentioned, the Magnum P.I. has strong pedigree, with The Code also in the mix.
In comedy, the network has the Murphy Brown revival on tap for next fall, Gloria Calderon Kellett’s History of Them pilot remains strong, with I Mom So Hard also is considered a possibility. Beyond that, the comedy picture at CBS is very murky as a number of high-profile pilots are yet to tape, including Welcome to the Neighborhood, co-starring Cedric the Entertainer, the Damon Wayans Jr. starrer untitled Austen Earl/Tim McAuliffe and Fam starring Nina Dobrev.
Related 2018 CBS Pilots
NBC’s Bad Boys offshoot starring Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba as LAPD detectives, which has been getting early buzz, now has a title. L.A.’s Finest. If that sounds familiar, that is because ABC’s drama pilot centered on female cops mentioned earlier is called The Finest. It’s safe to assume that both networks went for the same (not very inspired) double entendre. Medical drama Bellevue also has been garnering buzz, with Hitchcockian thriller Suspicion, clairvoyance cop drama In Between Lives and ensemble apartment building drama The Village also in the mix.
On the comedy side, bar comedy Abby’s, female-centered untitled Aseem Batra comedy, young ensemble Bright Futures, executive produced by Kenya Barris, and Hazy Mills’ Suzanne Martin sitcom Like Family continue to be talked about.
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