TV projects are being green lit left and right at CBS as the network gave the go order to four more shows on Thursday: Super Fun Night, Applebaum, Quean, and an untitled Ralph Lamb project. These four pilots join the Widow Detective, Golden Boy, Baby Big Shot, Trooper and Elementary. A few of these look to reinforce the procedural lineup at CBS, while others look like watered down remakes of stronger and more original concepts.
Super Fun Night – will be multi-camera comedy written and starring Australian actress-comedian Rebel Wilson (Bridesmaids) and is about three nerdy ladies and their “funcomfortable” quest to liven up their Friday nights with “super fun”. The team producing Super Fun Night is also of note as Conan O’Brien, Jeff Ross and David Kissinger will executive produce. Wilson will also get a co-executive producing credit. The pilot hasn’t been shot yet and we’re already seeing made up words in press releases. Something tells me this has something to do with the success of 2 Broke Girls and New Girl, comedies that feature the dorky side of women who try to reinvent the way that women talk as well. Also the description is trying way too hard to sell me on the fun they’re going to have and that’s not the most encouraging sign. Give it to Wilson though to strike while the iron is hot. Right now, networks are giving comediennes their own shows as if they were on clearance and Wilson is the latest to reap the benefits.
Applebaum – Being a stay-at-home mom just isn’t cool any more and CBS studios is bringing the Mommy Track Mysteries to pilot, a novel series written by Ayelet Waldman about a former public defender who becomes… wait for it… a private investigator. Waldman is going to contribute to the script along with Jennifer Levin and Sherri Cooper. Look for all three women to executive-produce.
Untitled Ralph Lamb project – Based on the true story of Ralph Lamb, a drama about a rodeo cowboy who became the sheriff of Las Vegas in the 1960s. The pilot is being written by Goodfellas writer Nicholas Pileggi. It looks like CBS is revisiting Walker, Texas Ranger but in a period piece.
Quean – Reminiscent of what NBC’s Awake was to Inception, Quean looks to take the first leg of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) and will try to take it to the small screen. Written by Ilene Chaiken (The L-Word) Quean follows an “edgy and independent Millennial hacker girl” who assists an Oakland detective in solving crimes. Joel Silver will executive produce for Warner Bros. and this will be the second CBS project Chaiken and Silver team I can’t wait to see what CBS claims will be the difference. Maybe she’ll have a horse tattoo?
Those are the latest pilots CBS is ordering. They already have these pilots in development. Yes, there are more procedurals…
Untitled Nick Stoller Comedy – Jason Segel’s (How I Met Your Mother) writing partner Nick Stoller has been given a pilot green light from CBS and he will write and direct a single-camera project that is loosely based on his real-life experiences. Right now all we know is that it’s a twenty-something ensemble about a guy who is heart-broken and must work one cubicle away from her. This is one of the more promising pilots as Stoller has been the other half of a team that wrote The Muppets, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and was part of magic that was Undeclared.
Trooper – yet another Jerry Bruckheimer procedural follows a common-sense mother-turned-New York state trooper. [crickets chirping] I know that Bruckheimer can sell anything to the TV mainstream audience but if this one flies, the other networks should just give up.
Baby Big Shot – a legal drama about a working-class woman who uses street smarts to compete with a big Manhattan law firm. This is coming from the same production company that brought legal dramedy Franklin & Bash to TNT. Hey, at least it’s not a procedural.
Golden Boy – a drama about the making of a man where we get to see an officer rise the ranks to detective and ultimately to police commissioner. The drama is written and executive produced by Nicholas Wootton with Greg Berlanti. This idea is actually interesting if the progression is over the course of six seasons and every two years the series goes from cop drama, to detective procedural and then to a politics-driven series. It doesn’t help that this is about a law man and that there are more procedurals you can shake a stick at.
Elementary – If we weren’t inundated with Sherlock Holmes, whether it be Guy Ritchie’s fun, stylistic and over-the-top films or the more cerebral BBC series Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch, now we have Sherlock doing his sleuthing in New York City. Rob Doherty (Medium) is writing the script and executive producing with Sarah Timberman & Carl Beverly. As if we didn’t have enough detectives or in this case, private eyes doing work in NYC, Elementary looks like another uninspired procedural that is modifying a brilliant show and dumbing it down for American audiences. Is it that much to ask American audiences to watch BBC’s Sherlock on PBS?
Widow Detective – written by David Hubbard and produced by CSI stalwart Carol Mendelsohn, we get another police detective drama who becomes a surrogate father to the three families of the three partners he lost in the line of duty. Wow, talk about melodrama at its finest!
CBS honestly doesn’t have to try hard to get people to watch their shows. Regardless of their quality they have their loyal viewers who are more than willing to be spoon-fed derivative procedurals and investigative dramas. Unforgettable and The Gifted Man are proof that those who tune into CBS dramas don’t demand much as long as it doesn’t stray too far from what they’re already used to. Just remember that numbers don’t always equate to quality.
So there you have it. Do you think any of these have enough mustard to make it on the air? Any of them sound like they’re going to last? Vote on our poll below.
Loading …Source: Deadline
