David E. Kelley’s seat on the TV-production throne has long since been taken over by newcomers like Greg Berlanti, but it’s still a big deal when the guy who gave us Ally McBeal, L.A. Law, The Practice, and a little thing called Big Little Lies has a new show (also Mr. Mercedes!). As reported by The Wrap, ABC has picked up a Kelley project called The Big Sky that’s based on author C.J. Box’s Cassie Dewell books. The show is described as a “procedural thriller,” if you can imagine David E. Kelley doing something like that, and it reportedly follows a private detective investigating the mysterious kidnapping of a pair of sisters in Montana—and the possible connection to a series of other disappearances, which we’re going to assume are definitely related.
Basically, it sounds a lot like the kind of show that Kelley built his career on, and if history is any indication, it could be a hit. Or it could quietly truck along like Mr. Mercedes, doomed to be eternally recommended by those who watch it and ignored by those who don’t.