ABC is getting a jump on pilot season with a second early comedy pilot order. The network has given a cast-contingent pickup to Strange Calls, from writer Donick Cary (New Girl), director Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland) and producer Aaron Kaplan of Kapital Entertainment (The Neighbors). The project, based on an Australian format, was developed at ABC last season when it had a put pilot commitment. Strange Calls centers on good-hearted, bumbling Boston cop Toby Banks, who is exiled to night duty on Nantucket island, where strange, unexplainable occurrences become the norm nine months out of the year. Working out of a creaky lighthouse on the outskirts of town, he is teamed with Gregor, the eccentric lighthouse keeper and local paranormal authority. The two make an unlikely crimefighting duo dealing with the “strange calls” that come into the station at night. Nantucketer Cary wrote the adaptation and will serve as showrunner, with Fleischer set to direct the pilot. The two executive produce with Kaplan and Tracey Robertson and Nathan Mayfield, executive producers of the original series, which was produced by their company Hoodlum. 20th Century Fox TV, where Fleischer is under an overall deal, is producing with Kapital Entertainment and Hoodlum.
Source: deadline
Source: deadline
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