ABC, NBC, and CBS pick up several new pilots, only half of which are legal dramas and remakes of Friends
Enough mournful culling for now; here is a preview of next year’s cancellations a look at some of the new pilots that have been chosen to live, damn it, live, according to reports from Deadline and the Los Angeles Times:
ABC
Better Together: “A romantic comedy about two couples, one in a very slow-moving relationship, the other in a fast one.” From Shana Goldberg-Meehan, former executive producer of Friends.
Happy Endings: A comedy about a couple who “breaks up at the altar and their friends who have to figure out how to maintain their relationships after their split.” Anyone noticing a pattern here?
Mr. Sunshine: Ironically, this comedy starring Friends’ Matthew Perry sounds the least like a Friends clone, with Perry playing a “sports stadium manager who realizes on his 40th birthday that he cannot get by on his charming, funny, non-committal ways anymore.” Co-starring Allison Janney and Portia Doubleday (Youth In Revolt).
Detroit 187: A police procedural about Detroit’s homicide division, told through the eyes of a fictitious documentary crew, which is so hot right now. Stars The Sopranos’ Michael Imperioli.
The Whole Truth: A legal drama which shows “the defense and prosecution sides equally and keeps the audience guessing until the final scene.” Fun! Starring Nip/Tuck’s Joely Richardson and Rob Morrow.
Generation Y: Another fictional documentary, this one following a group of high school classmates from the Greatest Generation as they get all the wonderful things that are coming to them.
CBS
Mike And Molly: The lone pickup from CBS thus far, a sitcom about “an overweight couple” played by comedian Billy Gardell and Gilmore Girls’ Melissa McCarthy. Also features Eastbound And Down’s Katy Mixon.
NBC
Perfect Couples:In order to beat ABC at its Friends-cloning game, the original home of Friends has picked up this very similar “romantic comedy” about three couples who “struggle to find out what it takes to make a perfect relationship,” after discovering that no one told them life was gonna be this way. Hey, want to hear something adorable? It’s created by Scott Silveri, former producer of Friends and real-life husband to Better Together creator Shana Goldberg-Meehan.
Garza: Rushing to fill the possible void left by Law & Order, NBC is signing up several new legal dramas, including this one starring Jimmy Smits as a Supreme Court justice who decides to leave government behind for private practice in Philadelphia. The show comes from Conan O’Brien’s production company, which is kind of funny, considering.
Kindreds: Yet another legal drama, this one from David E. Kelley, who probably compulsively doodles new legal dramas on cocktail napkins. Kathy Bates is rumored to star in this one, about a group of “misfit” attorneys who form an “unconventional” practice together.
One of the bigger surprises thus far is that NBC’s much-ballyhooed reboot of The Rockford Files with Dermot Mulroney is apparently dead in the water, even though the pilot—which also starred Beau Bridges and Alan Tudyk—sounded promising. After numerous re-cuts, however, the network still wasn’t satisfied; here’s hoping it manages to fill the requisite “lackluster update of a popular ‘70s show” hole in its lineup with something else.