According to Deadline, Hulu is finalizing orders for two pilots that both hail from Paramount Television and Anonymous Content.
The first, Citizen, is a “fresh take on the superhero origin story” that mixes “magical realism and gritty vigilantism.” Given that description, the obvious guess is that the show is about a character who only imagines being a true superhero and in reality is a lonely insurance salesman who dresses up in tights and gets beaten to a pulp by local criminals. So like Kick-Ass, minus the c-word. The pilot takes place in a “supernaturalized” Los Angeles, though, so perhaps uncanny superheroes and supervillains actually do run amok. (We still vote insurance salesman.) Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, director of Me And Earl And The Dying Girl, is attached to the pilot.
The second pilot is based on Chris Hutton and Eddie O’Keefe’s 2011 Black List runner-up screenplay When The Street Lights Go On. Described as being in the vein of Stand By Me, the pilot is a coming-of-age thriller set in a small town that follows the aftermath of the brutal murder of a high school girl and her teacher in the summer of 1983. Anyone want to take bets about whether a discontented adult narrator will speak over a shot of long-abandoned train tracks? Documentarian Brett Morgen (The Kid Stays In The Picture) is attached to direct the pilot. If it becomes a series, Street Lights could prompt many water-cooler discussions and amateur-quality podcasts contemplating the layers of its mystery. Let’s hope the characters are as compelling as the whodunit.