ABC added to its pilot pickups Monday, adding dramas from established production companies (Shondaland, Fake Empire) and comedies from "It Gets Better" LGBT activist Dan Savage and a half-hour that reteams the stars of National Lampoon's Vacation.
On the drama side, The Catch hails from Grey's Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder executive producers Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers. Written by Jennifer Schuur (Hannibal) and exec produced by Shondaland duo Rhimes and Beers, the drama centers on a gutsy female forensic accountant who exposes fraud for a living and has finally found fulfillment both at work and in love until a case comes along that threatens to turn her world upside down.
Broad Squad, meanwhile, hails from Fake Empire's Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz (Gossip Girl) and marks the company's second project at the network following Astronaut Wives Club. The drama is inspired by true stories and follows the first four women to graduate from Boston's Police Academy in 1978.
On the comedy side, the untitled Savage comedy is a single-camera semi-autobiographical entry based on the LGBT activist/boundary-pushing columnist's life. It centers on a picture-perfect family that is turned upside down when the youngest son comes out of the closet. What seems like the end of their idyllic life turns out to be the beginning of a bright new chapter when everyone stops pretending to be perfect and actually starts being real. Savage is responsible fororganizing the It Gets Better photo campaign following the passage of Prop. 8 and numerous other anti-gay legislation.
Rounding out the four pilot pickups is Chev & Bev, a single-camera comedy starring Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo as two baby boomers who are fun, relevant and living a selfish retirement when their world is turned upside down and they are suddenly left to raise their grandchildren.
On the drama side, The Catch hails from Grey's Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder executive producers Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers. Written by Jennifer Schuur (Hannibal) and exec produced by Shondaland duo Rhimes and Beers, the drama centers on a gutsy female forensic accountant who exposes fraud for a living and has finally found fulfillment both at work and in love until a case comes along that threatens to turn her world upside down.
Broad Squad, meanwhile, hails from Fake Empire's Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz (Gossip Girl) and marks the company's second project at the network following Astronaut Wives Club. The drama is inspired by true stories and follows the first four women to graduate from Boston's Police Academy in 1978.
On the comedy side, the untitled Savage comedy is a single-camera semi-autobiographical entry based on the LGBT activist/boundary-pushing columnist's life. It centers on a picture-perfect family that is turned upside down when the youngest son comes out of the closet. What seems like the end of their idyllic life turns out to be the beginning of a bright new chapter when everyone stops pretending to be perfect and actually starts being real. Savage is responsible fororganizing the It Gets Better photo campaign following the passage of Prop. 8 and numerous other anti-gay legislation.
Rounding out the four pilot pickups is Chev & Bev, a single-camera comedy starring Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo as two baby boomers who are fun, relevant and living a selfish retirement when their world is turned upside down and they are suddenly left to raise their grandchildren.
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OMG this pilot season is making me want to cry. Nothing intriguing to be found anywhere!
ReplyDeleteAnother set of pilots that don't interest me.
ReplyDeleteTell me about it. I have only liked the sound of one pilot which is Bastard Executioner by Kurt Sutter (Sons of Anarchy) mainly because I loved Sons of Anarchy, and the pilot has cast Katy Segal.
ReplyDeleteThe Catch is destined for a series pickup as well as a Thursday slot.
ReplyDeletejust rename ABC "Shondas World" already :P
ReplyDeleteWhat's up with all the weak-a** pilots this season?
ReplyDeleteThere's usually always at least SOMETHING mildly interesting. This year there appears to be no risk, no spin-off and no tie-in heavy stuff o.O
Fox's stuff sounds pretty good if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteI bet The Catch will either:
ReplyDeleteA) Share timeslot with How to get away with Murder
B) Premiere on Sundays on an attempt to bring life to their weak lineup
I have the Minority Report show going for me, and to some extent Super Girl - which I'm way less excited now that I've learned its going to be procedurial heavy-, but aside from that I'm not really interested in what's coming on broadcast networks so far
ReplyDeleteWednesdays are also possible I think.
ReplyDeleteAnd remember that she also has a comedy in development for them. Soon she will take over Paul Lee!
ReplyDeleteOne might argue The Flash is also a procedural and that Arrow used to be one on its first season. I wouldn't jump to those conclusions on Super Girl yet. I feel the line between procedural and serialized is getting more and more thin
ReplyDeleteWatch them pick up Shonda. If they do maybe during a bridge or something? As good as she does for them how much Shonda do we really need?
ReplyDeleteI don't know what I'll do when The Middle ends,
How many Shonda dramas does ABC really need? The serial nature does not mean that it will syndicate well. As for where they will put it, on Thursday while one of the shows are on break. I can't see this concept lasting 22 episodes a year.
ReplyDeleteA freakin comedy? Oh God...
ReplyDeleteI have to agree, nothing's really caught my attention. Maybe "Scream Queens", "Supergirl", "Minority Report", but that's kinda it.
ReplyDeleteWednesday should go to a dramedy. Either American Marriage or Mix, both seem similar in concept
ReplyDeleteIs Shonda Rhimes the only one making TV shows these days??
ReplyDeleteNo, Dick Wolf does also. It's basically those two.
ReplyDeleteTouche!! Would be good if she could dial down the crazy just a smitch!!
ReplyDeleteThe thing is, I thought it would be a pretty good pilot season, October through December there were a LOT of great scripts picked up (at least great in terms of how good the plot sounded) and none of them are getting picked up. Even if these shows getting pilot orders are watchable, most of the plots sound so bland and generic. I think maybe this fall I'll probably just be catching up with new shows from the past couple of seasons that I haven't gotten to yet, other than Scream Queens which I'll watch no matter what, there's nothing that has made me excited. Last year at this point I had about 10 pilots I was rooting for and most of them got picked up. This year I doubt a single script I really want to be picked up will be.
ReplyDeleteI always get more intrigued when casting gets underway, because then we can see how the series is going to be mapped out.
ReplyDeleteThe only one that I have a firm grasp on is Chicago Med because we've been introduced. We kind of know how that's going to develop.
I think she also has Protect and Survive co-produced with Person of Interest show runner. I didn't know anything about The Catch, but since it's from Shonda I'll be watching. But thought they'd pick up Protect and Survive, wonder what will happen to it.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty convinced they'll scheduled it on Thursdays at 10 after Murder finishes its second season.
ReplyDeleteI know, it's such a great comedy, maybe my favorite.
ReplyDeleteAnd Chuck Lore, with four comedies on CBS.
ReplyDeleteAgree about casting. Always curious to see which shows attract big time talent like Viola Davis. Also when some of the supporting roles are cast, more details about the pilots are revealed beyond the overall premise of the show.
ReplyDeleteAnother set of boring premises.Upcoming fall is going to be brutal!
ReplyDeleteShondaLand is taking over ABC.
ReplyDeleteEverything sounds like crap these days. Ugh... It's all cheap comedies, dramas and reality tv. Everyone go watch Hannibal. It's the only way to save yourself from these other horrible shows. :P
ReplyDeleteI hope none of these are going to replace Forever. That's a fun show and I'm already addicted.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it'll get murder's spot, when season two ends in February 2016.
ReplyDeletePeople thought the same thing with HTGAWM but its going to be around for some time.
ReplyDeleteAgain These Sound boring, even shonda's does nappear not impress me. I guess we need trailers if they were to be Picked up
ReplyDeleteDeadline has a totally different synopsis for The Catch:
ReplyDeleteThe Catch(formerly The Long Game), is a thriller about a woman about to get married and about to get conned. Unbeknownst to her slippery fiancé, our heroine — who investigates fraud for a living — is not all she claims to be. And when the fiancé’s expertly planned con collides with her perfectly constructed lies, they plunge into a dangerous game of cat and mouse.
Shonda Rhimes: Taking over ABC (and the world) one step at a time.
ReplyDeleteNow, it sounds much better.
ReplyDeleteLooks like the Shonda show we never know we missed.
Agree with others not a lot of pilots I'm interested in this year but often the finished product is way more interesting.
ReplyDeleteShonda Rhimes is so overrated, always the same type of generic shows........
ReplyDeleteFox & ABC really want to axe old stuff... I hope OUAT & Sleepy & Shield survive :( it pisses me off they keep ordering new stuff and then my fav shows have to go.
ReplyDeleteThis pilot season is really awful. Any pilot sounds good.
ReplyDeleteThe Catch: I watch anything from Shondaland.
ReplyDeleteBroad Squad: I'll pass. They'd have to cast four great actresses for me to consider watching this.
Savage Comedy: I'm all for representation but this doesn't sound good. Like, at all.
Chev&Bev: No, just no.
These all sound pretty awful.
ReplyDeleteLooks it's sorta HTGAWM mixed with Scandal by way of Grey's Anatomy lol.
ReplyDeleteWell, to be honest, HTGAWM is already a mix of Scandal and Grey's.
ReplyDeleteThe Catch sounds good. I'm only watching HTGAWM from
ReplyDeleteWell, that could be, but if Super Girl ends up being more procedural than Arrow and The Flash it may be a dealbreaker for me; after all, The Flash quickly started to develop its own story and so did Arrow, so if Super Girl takes too much time I may get bored. The fact that it is on CBS already raises some red flags for me (I don't watch any drama series there aside from The Good Wife, which is the big exception)
ReplyDeleteCould be, but considering this is a Shonda product I expect to either get the promotional push (airing after Scandal and keeping the TGIT night all season long) or save a lineup that is beyond dreadful (Sunday).
ReplyDeleteFor a moment there I thought Tuesdays, but that should be a male skewing night for ABC
Do you think any of these will be a hit for ABC?
ReplyDeleteWell they did try a Shonda drama on Wednesdays before with Off the Map so it wouldn't have been unprecedented.
ReplyDeleteBut I do agree that Thursdays midseason is the most likely option, except that it only works if the show is also a limited series. If it is a full 22 episode show there is no reason to limit it to 10 episodes a year just to fit with Murder.
We'll, there are 3 potential spin-off planned for next season at the moment.
ReplyDeleteSoon to be 3.
ReplyDeleteWill Chev and Bev be the main characters' names or will it be like TMJFS where the main character isn't even named Michael?
ReplyDeleteShonda rocks! Now, this new show will either air during midseason on Thursdays, or they'll try to fix the Tuesday slots, or eventually Sunday.
ReplyDeleteIf Grey's end next season and The Catch does well at 10PM during midseason I could see them moving the show to 8PM with a full season of 22 episodes. That's a big if, but also a possibility; while Grey's is still doing amazing, it will have to retire sooner or later
ReplyDeleteWell ER lasted 15 seasons and GA is still very much a legitimate hit show especially in the slot it is now so I doubt it has to retire so soon. Its ratings could collapse but I don't think it is that likely. And as long as they have Ellen Pompeo in there (and she has basically assumed publicly that she will take the stable pay check for as long as she can) the cast shouldn't be an issue since they've managed to successfully retire many original cast members already (including Sandra Oh last year) while gradually introducing new ones.
ReplyDeleteTrue, in the end it will depend on how it holds up, and there are no signs of it having worriesome declines anytime soon, not with the heavy promotion it gets as part of TGIT; I think Grey's hasn't had as much promotion in a loooong time, and it has payed off great for ABC
ReplyDeleteCatch is the only one that interest me. Maybe just me but I am getting tired of all the gay shows, maybe there needs to be a LGBT network. I am joining Billy Crystal in this.
ReplyDeleteYeah I agree. I mentioned that in the pre-season preview. TGIT forced Grey's to move to a worse timeslot but it gave it more promotion than it had had in years.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds WAY better!
ReplyDeleteOUAT isn't going anywhere lol
ReplyDeletehope so.
ReplyDeletethe Catch might b.e
ReplyDeleteWell, there's Supergirl.
ReplyDeleteMore like one pilot season at a time haha.
ReplyDeleteYes, in a month. I still don't get why they didn't aired it through May ordering more episodes, it's the final season for TAAHM.
ReplyDeleteMeh...
ReplyDeleteI don't have anything against gay people and the LGBT community, but I do think gay story lines are being over used in shows and aren't as new, unique and defying (the story lines) as they used to be when they were being introduced to tv.
ReplyDeleteThat was my point, seems like most of the shows I watch have to have a gay character in it and it has NOTHING to do with the story. I would prefer all sex scenes to be cut, not just gay.
ReplyDelete