Updated 23rd March (22:20 GMT): Broken key art and Still Star-Crossed description and key art added below.
Below are the detailed descriptions of ABC's pilots for this year along with the tentative key arts. Some of the descriptions may contain pilot spoilers.
Broken (PKA Untitled Divorce Drama)
Gemma Evon (Anna Paquin) is one of Dallas’s toughest divorce attorneys. She is the kind of divorce attorney clients seek out not to get an amicable divorce but to completely decimate their ex. Gemma’s intelligence and toughness with her cases have gotten her a mansion in Dallas’s most prestigious neighborhood and a corner office at the firm, but not partnership—yet.
But Gemma’s past is far different from the ritzy Dallas social life she leads today. Raised in the trailer parks of Texas, she and her sister Jules had a tough time growing up with a single mom who was always on the run and couldn’t always protect them or provide for them. It is this tumultuous past that sent the sisters in two different directions—Jules grew up to find herself bouncing from relationship to relationship, never being able to hold down a job, and always getting herself too wrapped up in the wrong guy. Gemma, on the other hand, reinvented herself by taming her accent and never allowing people to see the scars of her past. But it is these childhood traumas that still haunt her at night and that have fueled her steely drive for success.
We meet Gemma when she is on the brink of getting everything she’s strived for—she is on the verge of reeling in one of the most public and expensive divorce cases in the state where billions of dollars are at stake, as well as her coveted partnership. And at home she’s reeled in Oliver, the handsome, rich fiancé she always wanted.
But unfortunately for Gemma, Jules arrives on the scene following another destructive relationship that causes her to lean on her sister for a place to stay. It is this arrival that drives Gemma’s own self-destructive qualities into high gear when she acts out by sleeping with her boss, James, who knows more about Gemma’s past than Oliver does. And when a co-worker, Mark, starts trying to ingratiate himself on Gemma’s biggest divorce case, Gemma knows now more than ever is not the time to allow Jules’s emotional drama to derail her own drive.
Chunk & Bean
Brian, also known as Chunk is a hefty, teenage curmudgeon with ten percent of his ample girth devoted to the giant chip on his shoulder. Connie (Anna Gunn) will do anything to slim Brian down, whether he likes it or not. Her techniques include running him, weighing him, tossing his room for hidden candy (she always finds plenty), and calling the parents of classmates to make sure he isn’t hustling them for food. Spoiler alert: he is.
Connie’s carefully controlled ecosystem and plans for Brian and her family are thrown into chaos when the handsome Jim Rogerson (Adam Rodriguez) and his son Ed (Simon Belz) move in next door. Ed, also known as Bean, is as small as Brian is wide. He’s 14, but still shops in the children’s section at Target. However, unlike Brian, who goes stormy to survive the hardships caused by his size, Ed goes sunny. He’s the little engine that could - even though he usually can’t.
Connie and Jim instantly butt heads over their conflicting styles of parenting. While Connie believes in structure and discipline, Jim believes in high fives and cake for breakfast. Terrified of this easy-breezy new influence next door, Connie tries everything to contain Jim’s impact on her family and her patients. But Jim’s charm and Stuart’s eagerness to make a friend thwart Connie’s plans.
Meanwhile, Brian and Ed are navigating their first day of high school as newly minted friends. Their bond instantly disintegrates, however, when Brian, confronted by a bully about his weight, turns on Ed to draw attention away from himself. Ed turns it around on Brian with devastating results and the two new friends become enemies, and earn the nicknames Chunk and Bean in the process.
Back home, Jim discovers a distraught Brian on the verge of running away, and talks him out of it, thereby gaining his trust. At the same time next door, Ed seeks out Connie and Stuart to talk about his father’s lingering grief. He reveals that his mother, Jim’s wife, recently died and a quietly devastated Jim has not recovered. At the end of the night, these neighbors form an unlikely (if fragile) bond.
Conviction
Hayes Morrison (Hayley Atwell) grew up in the public eye as the nation’s First Daughter. Now she is a gorgeous mess, with a brilliant legal mind but a self-destructive streak. Arrested for cocaine possession, she gets an offer from Wayne Wallis, the NY District Attorney: no jail time if she heads his new Conviction Integrity Unit that re-examines cases where there’s credible suspicion of wrongful conviction. Hayes resents having to take the offer, but is not totally upset about working with Wayne. He was her former courtroom nemesis, who she still finds rather sexy.
She is working with the CIU team including forensics expert Frankie Rios, Paralegal Tess Thompson, and NYPD Detective Maxine Barton, who makes a point of telling Hayes that she didn’t vote for her father, the former President.
They have tight deadlines to identify cases where they suspect the wrong person has been convicted of a crime.
The first case should be easy to overturn, but it’s not. Neither is Wayne who has Assistant DA Sam Sullivan spy on Hayes, and calls her bluff when she tries to get herself fired. Wayne’s tough love is a turn-on.
But, it all gets worse when she finds out that her mother, the former First Lady who is running for Senate, was the one behind job offer. If Hayes quits, she is going to jail.
She better work, despite her demons, because this is really her last second chance. She needs this job as much as the wrongfully convicted need her brilliance. It’s time to follow her mother’s advice: “Do your best. For once.”
Designated Survivor
It is the night of the President’s State of the Union address. Tom Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland), the secretary of HUD, is the only cabinet member watching from another location. He has been chosen to be the Designated Survivor for the night, which ensures continuity of government in the unlikely event that a catastrophic attack on the capital kills everyone above him in the presidential line of succession.
As he watches with his wife Alex (Natascha McElhone), a savvy pro bono attorney, the television signal suddenly cuts out and the Secret Service rush in. The Capitol Building has been blown up, the President and Cabinet members are dead, and Kirkman is about to become the President of the United States.
He and Alex are taken to the White House immediately while Secret Service rush to get his 9 year-old daughter and search for his 16 year-old son, who is not where he said he would be. There is no time to process how their lives are about to change.
FBI Agent Hannah Wells (Maggie Q) is alerted immediately and runs out on a disastrous blind date. When she gets to the Capitol and starts the investigation, she makes the startling revelation that this attack might only be the beginning.
Tom, now President Kirkman, meets with everyone left at top-level security clearance. Deputy Chief of Staff Aaron Shore helps Kirkman gain command over the panicked and chaotic room.
Tensions rise when they receive word that Iran has deployed its Navy into the Strait of Hormuz. Hawkish General Cochrane, convinced that Iran is taking advantage of the attack to cut off America’s source of oil, wants to bomb Iran immediately without substantiated evidence. President Kirkman refuses to head into military action without assessing the situation and meets with the Ambassador of Iran. While many doubt he has the strength and experience to take on these kinds of challenges, he proves himself surprisingly worthy.
Speechwriter Seth Wright (Kal Penn), who Kirkman caught earlier trashing him for being a follower instead of a leader, will now have 45 minutes to write a formidable speech to launch his new presidency.
With the Cabinet in shambles, the military pressing for action, the terrorists still at large, and the entire country searching for answers, Kirkman will struggle to prevent America, and his own family, from falling into chaos as he is thrust into one of the most difficult presidencies in history.
Downward Dog
Martin is a philosopher of sorts and recently a lonely one. The woman he lives with, Nan (Emmy nominated Allison Tolman), just isn’t giving him the attention he needs. Their daily walks are a thing of the past.
He has a hard time telling her how he feels, so he has resorted to destroying her favorite boots. He actually chewed them up, because if you haven’t guessed by now, he’s a dog. A lonely, controlling, self-obsessed dog who lets us in on all his thoughts. He tries to set boundaries with Nan to make her feel safe. It has been hard on both of them since she broke up with her boyfriend, Jason (Lucas Neff), a musician, bartender and aging millennial. Now, she spends way too much time at work trying to impress her boss and co-workers, and Martin is left at home too much trying to imagine what could be more important than snuggling on the couch with him.
Nan’s not the most organized person, but wants her ideas to be heard at Clark and Bow Outfitters where she’s worked for six years. Co-worker Jenn (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) gives her advice on how to impress the boss, Kevin (Barry Rothbart). After months of hitting a brick wall, Nan is finally making some headway, but in a few short moments Martin ruins everything. Is she really going to have to tell everyone at work that her dog ate her presentation?
It’s time for obedience school. As Martin says, “I think Nan just needs things to be kind of spelled out in really obvious ways.” He feels like she’s lost track of what’s really important: him. One session at obedience school already makes them realize that even at their worst, they may be the best thing for each other.
Dream Team
Kari Lizer and Bill Wrubel (Will & Grace) bring us Dream Team, based on their experiences as soccer parents. With documentary-style elements, Dream Team centers on club soccer coach Marty Shumacher (Justin Long), a diverse group of girls and their demanding parents.
Marty took his last team to the national championships…where they lost in their final game. His misfortune doesn’t end there, as his wife recently left him, taking all of the furniture with her.
With no team and no wife, Marty decides to get back into the game. He loves being a coach and brings a unique passion and dedication to his team.
As the girls train and compete to make the team, their parents are fighting a competition of their own, against other parents, their own spouses and the demands that club soccer makes on their family.
While Marty begins coaching the girls into a cohesive team, he must overcome his self-doubt when his ex-wife questions his career path as respectable for a grown man, and then takes his last remaining piece of furniture.
After the first game, Marty has to cut someone from the team, the first of many difficult decisions he’ll have to make as he guides these girls and their parents through the next ten years of their lives.
Hail Mary
Meet Mary Wolf (Casey Wilson), the charismatic and charming Mayor of Bottom Heights. Mary’s mother died in childbirth and her last words were, “Tell Mary she can do anything”. . .and throughout Mary’s life she has taken that mantra to heart. Though she has made some questionable life choices, like sleeping with a married man and making deals with the Canadian Mafia, Mary is currently following in her father’s footsteps as Mayor and trying to keep the town’s bankruptcy at bay.
Even though Mary has a natural ability to make people feel confident and optimistic, she is nearing the end of her rope with the good folks of Bottom Heights. As her father lies on his deathbed, Mary vows to save their town by any means necessary. Unfortunately, her conspiracy theorist brother, Christopher, and flakey sister Janice aren’t much help when it comes to saving their father or the town. With few options in front of her, Mary needs a miracle fast... so, she fakes one. No one could be more surprised than Mary when real miracles actually begin to happen.
Imaginary Mary
When Alice (Jenna Elfman) was a little girl her family life was… downright crappy. Growing up in a broken home with no siblings, five-year-old Alice was on her own until the day she dreamed up her very own imaginary friend, Mary, a snuggly, fiercely loyal, foul-mouthed creature who would give Alice the love and support she needed.
With Mary’s help, shy little Alice grew into a kickass woman who rocks a karaoke mic, runs her own PR firm repping famous athletes and avoids relationships and commitments at all costs. No family life, pudgy husband or mom jeans for Alice, thank you very much. At least that was the plan Mary and Alice had agreed on many years ago, which is why Mary “disappeared” from Alice’s life. But like any imaginary friend, Mary has been lurking in the back of Alice’s mind. And Mary has decided it’s time to come back, because suddenly… the plan is blowing up.
If you ask Mary, Alice is now about to throw away EVERYTHING because she has “stupidly” fallen in love with Ben (Stephen Schneider), a good-looking, adorable, quick-witted divorced dad of three: Andy, 16, a kind hearted, outgoing neurotic whose biggest obstacle is himself; Dora, 14, a fan-girl super geek and the toughest nut to crack; and Bunny, 6, sweet and adorable but obsessed with life’s darkest mysteries. So when Alice agrees to finally meet the kids, Mary returns to convince Alice to “dump the chump” and his “annoying” kids – she’s a cuddly badass on a mission. Of course, even though Mary’s looking out for Alice, she’s also giving voice to Alice’s deepest fears that were formed in her less-than-perfect childhood -- she won’t be able to make a serious relationship last, she lacks the maternal instincts to be a “mom type person” to Ben’s kids, families only end in disaster. According to Mary, there’s only one option: run!
But it doesn’t look like Mary’s misguided efforts, Alice’s lack of mothering experience, or even Ben’s kids can break apart true love. With Ben’s help and the realization that there may be something special – maybe even joyous - about family life after all, Alice is ready to take small steps toward the next stage of her life. But since there is no guarantee that things will work out, Mary has decided she’ll stick around so she can “help” Alice through this transition. And so in series Mary will give voice to the unfiltered, uncensored thoughts we all have about family life from time to time, while we root for Alice and this evolving family to find their way.
Model Woman
Beauty and glamour. Fame and fortune. Betrayal and intrigue. It’s 1977 and the formidable Bertie Geiss (Andie MacDowell), with her colorful husband Miller by her side, lords over the Geiss Modeling Agency, a monopolistic powerhouse that sets standards of beauty worldwide. Bertie has an eye for spotting talent and cultivates her finds by mentoring the “girls” in a sorority-type home with strict rules and regimens. Her son Elson is gorgeous and has his mother’s eye for the next face, while son Lonnie longs to escape the business side and find the next star. Rebellious daughter Michelle, although model material, wants no part of fashion and chooses to photograph reality, not fantasy.
But Bertie’s true children are her models, especially her top-tier star clients. So when supermodel Rebecca Blackwell returns from Paris demanding what amounts to free services from the Geiss agency, Bertie hatches a plot to keep her under her wing.
The next fire to put out comes in the form of betrayal. Bertie’s Paris partner Lio Fibonacci, a sexy, dangerous snake is secretly pilfering models to join his new agency in New York while introducing the models to the disco nightlife of glamour, sex and drugs which Bertie forbids. As everyone knows, your enemy’s enemy can be your friend, so Bertie offers an olive branch to her former client and now competitor Helenjane Harris to join forces against Lio.
Lonnie may have a chance to shed his “numbers guy” persona and get in the talent-scouting game when he plucks a Pippi Longstocking-type girl from the waiting room named Gemma Pinschenat. Bertie sizes her up in seconds and is about to dismiss her when she’s surprised by Gemma removing the mortician’s wax camouflaging an intriguing gap between her front teeth. Bertie immediately sees what Lonnie saw – a potential star and Lonnie’s “first face”.
As Bertie fights to stay on top, her family is floundering. Husband Miller is the target of Rebecca’s passes, son Elson –- normally a player – is falling for Gemma, and Lio is making the moves on daughter, Michelle, whom he knows is forbidden fruit. As she nears hitting the big 50th birthday, will Bertie be able to hold on to power in the anything-goes/if-it-feels-good-do-it world of the 1970s?
Notorious
Notorious is about control, ego, and power -- how a charismatic attorney and a powerhouse TV producer attempt to control the media, the justice system, and ultimately each other. Living at the intersection of law and media, the series explores the boundaries of professional integrity and how far our national tastemakers will go for ratings, notoriety, and the last word.
Julia George is the Executive Producer of Louise Herrick Live, the nation’s number one news program hosted by Louise Herrick, a consummate professional when she’s on air and a party girl in her off hours. As the nation’s top news producer, Julia decides what our country cares about. She creates heroes and monsters, victims and villains. With the help of her associate producer, Megan Byrd, Julia tells the world when to pay attention and what really matters. Recently, against her wishes, Julia’s been assigned a new PA, Ryan Mills, the son of the network president. Ryan is as ambitious as his father and in a hurry to step out of his shadow. He’ll do anything to prove his worth to Julia.
Jake Gregorian is the nation’s top defense attorney. Handsome and charismatic, he boasts a roaster of celebrity clients and will win at any cost. He often overshadows his brother, Bradley, an equal partner at Gregorian & Gregorian, the firm created by their father. Jake and Bradley recently hired a new associate Ella Benjamin, a protégé of Jake. Ella appears naive but that’s a façade. Her father was arrested for a series of post office bombings, and she became a lawyer to help get her father out of prison and off death row.
The heart of the series is the relationship between Julia and Jake. As respective leaders in their fields, they are in a unique position to trade information and “access to the airwaves” for better stories and the upper hand. While they are often at odds in public, behind the scenes they are in cahoots, using each other to advance their own agendas.
Jake and Julia rule their professional domains, but their personal lives are complicated. Jake is in love with a client’s wife and Julia just discovered that her boyfriend, a recently appointed Federal Judge, has been cheating on her with high priced escorts.
Inspired by the true-life stories of famed criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos and cable news producer Wendy Walker, Notorious is a provocative look at the unique, sexy, and dangerous interplay of criminal law and the media.
Pearl
Pearl Foxton (Candice Bergen) is a self-possessed, opinionated force of nature. Charming and charismatic, she is the most sophisticated woman in her suburban New Jersey town.
Widowed in her forties, Pearl is married to her second husband, Len, a kind, enthusiastic, frequently oblivious man, whom she grades a B+. Pearl has two grown children from her first marriage; Billy the overachieving "good son," and his older sister Olivia, the rebellious “bad” daughter. She plays obvious favorites with her children as well as her grandchildren.
This powerful matriarch has just received grim news: she has cancer, and the doctors tell her she probably has less than a year left. Pearl has always done exactly what she wants to do, and she has nothing left on her bucket list. Her only bit of unfinished business is to sort out her family’s lives to her liking…whether they like it or not.
She tells Billy that his wife Sara, who wants a trial separation, must be having an affair. He denies it and storms out of their dinner—the first time that this tough literary agent has ever stood up to his mother. But Pearl decides to investigate her theory on her own.
Pearl has strong opinions about her daughter’s love life, too. Olivia lives with her unassuming fiancé Kurt out in the middle of nowhere on a farm. Her lifestyle rebels against everything Pearl values, and that may be what Olivia likes best about it. Pearl believes that Kurt is the wrong man for her, and wants to get Olivia back with her successful and handsome ex, Travis. She takes it upon herself to find out what his marital status currently is.
Len is in such denial he’s planning to take Pearl on a trip to the Galapagos in six months. But all Pearl wants to talk to him about is who he should marry after she’s gone. She’s worried that, left to his own devices, he will marry her arch-enemy Janet Gottshalk, who will redecorate the house in a manner that would be deeply offensive to Pearl. She’s picked out a member of her Breast Cancer Survivors’ Group who she feels is a more suitable mate for her husband.
Pearl has a lot of work to do to get her family in shape with whatever time she has left. After all, she knows what’s best for them way better than they know themselves, and good luck convincing her otherwise.
Presence
Presence Fernandez (Stephanie Sigman) is not your average Army Corporal. She didn’t join the service to fight terrorism, even though she did do a tour of duty in Afghanistan as a Counter-Insurgency Operator. She and her friend joined to avoid going to prison for theft. This got her out of the LA gang scene and probably saved her life, but not her friend’s who died in combat.
Now a civilian, she needs money, a car, and a job. She gets an interesting call from the very wealthy Duchess Avedon, her ex-fiancé’s mother who never approved of her. Duchess is looking for her son, Chad, and knows if anyone can find him, it is Presence.
She will need to hold her own against LA’s baddest as well as LA’s finest—the police.
Biker dudes try to beat her up for snooping around, but she gets out alive—with the information she needs from them. With that lead and knowing Chad’s style, she tracks him to his upscale apartment in Hollywood. But her former fiancé gets to her like no one else. After they spend the night together, she agrees to tell his mother that she cannot find him, while accepting a fee that is double his mother’s.
But she’s made a critical error by leaving him in his apartment-- his body is discovered in the Pacific Ocean. Devastated by his death, she finds herself a person of interest by the police. To make sure she doesn’t go back to prison, she will track down his killer. In doing so, she forms a connection with one of the police, Mike McKay. Out of tragedy, she starts to see what could be a new life for herself as an unlicensed private detective.
Randall & Hilda are Not a Couple
Best friends and roommates Hilda and Randall (Andy Ridings) are in their late 20s and have been inseparable since college. When it comes to relationships, Randall is a neurotic, sensitive romantic looking for “the one”; while unapologetic, sexy, and unsentimental Hilda is much more non-committal. Hilda works at their favorite hangout, Austin’s friendliest bar, and is still figuring out what she wants to be when she grows up. Randall works in insurance and longs for the day when he can own property and wear comfortable slacks without Hilda teasing him about it.
Opposites really do attract and Hilda and Randall are almost perfect for each other. Only problem is, Hilda is gay. And annoyingly for Randall, her hit rate with women is way higher than his.
After another morning when Randall helps Hilda get rid of her latest one night stand, then makes her breakfast, Hilda begins to worry that Randall hasn’t had sex in over a year. She sets out to find him a date, but when she ends up finding a girl that Randall actually sees a future with, she starts to regret it. Is she losing her best friend? Spiraling out of control, she lets it slip in front of the new girl that she and Randall once drunkenly slept together years ago.
This comedy explores Randall and Hilda’s enviable yet dysfunctional co-dependent friendship as they navigate growing up and the world of dating.
Spark
It is current day America, but not as we know it. Imagine electricity had never been discovered—in its place, gas and coal run the world and power our everyday devices. Now imagine the amount of power the people who own the gas and coal in this world would command. This is the world of Spark.
In this contemporary American city the Stockton family, run by the tough as nails Hazel, controls the coal. Hazel finds herself constantly coming to heads with the patriarch of the Lavelle family, the ruthless Philippe. There is money to be had in who controls every part of this city, and the Stocktons and Lavelles will stop at nothing to come out on top. This old rivalry is thrown into high gear when a new land grab comes to fruition, and the families resort to underground tactics to take each other down. Suddenly, a gas line is cut causing an explosion that hurts the Lavelle family while a Stockton coal train is derailed killing innocents in its wake.
At the center of this war between families is a spirited Tinker named Pin. As a Tinker, she has a lowly existence in this town, but she is skilled in fixing and recycling gadgets and devices, a trait inherited from her loving father Thatcher and shared with her mischievous brother Cable. But Pin is smart and talented and, while using her STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) skills to work on an illicit device she created, she stumbles on the discovery of electric spark. She knows that this spark could mean everything to the people who are constantly affected by the war between Stockton and Lavelle.
Though Pin’s device is confiscated by an Enforcer on The Watch, she is approached by the least likely person to want to help her rebuild it—Philippe’s son, Alex Lavelle. Turns out, the devious and sexy Alex has plans of his own for what Pin’s device could mean for this world and his family, and Alex knows he needs a talented Tinker like Pin to bring his plans to fruition. This puts Pin in direct conflict with her boyfriend Aidan, who is head of The Watch and also a Stockton, and who would never approve of his girlfriend partnering with a Lavelle.
It would be easy for Pin to turn down Alex’s alliance, except that the guerilla warfare tactics between the families have escalated and created a very personal loss for Pin herself. Knowing that developing the device and seeing where the spark could lead is the only way to bring down both families and stop the carnage, Pin starts out on a dangerous journey of creativity and invention that could destroy everything she holds dear.
Speechless
Speechless tells the story of the DiMeo family, a gang who’s pretty good at dealing with the challenges it faces, and absolutely fantastic at creating new ones.
At the heart of the action are Maya, a mom on a mission who will do anything for her family, and JJ, her whip-smart teen son with special needs. Maya’s a no-holds-barred fighter of injustices both real and imagined. In her orbit are dry and smarter-than-he-seems husband, Jimmy, her no-nonsense jock daughter, Dylan, and middle child, Ray. Ray’s the lone adult in the family, the voice of reason, the brains of the operation… if you ask him, that is.
Our story begins as the family tours a run-down shack the kids learn will be their new home. This move, another in a long list of them in pursuit of the “perfect” situation for JJ, transports them from their middle-class roots to the upscale town next door. The very worst house in the neighborhood, with the freeway noise and cell tower in the yard to prove it. The DiMeos take to the move with gusto; there seems to be something for everyone at the new school. JJ will be assigned a full time aide, giving him independence and a spot in a mainstream class for the first time; for Dylan, there’s a new, gazillion dollar track facility… But world-weary Ray begs Mom and Dad to stay, sure as he is that this move will disappoint just like the dozen others that came before.
Ray’s proven right, and quickly. Upon arrival, Maya’s horrified to learn the “perfect” school turns out to have no wheelchair access, save a ramp in the back usually reserved for trash disposal. (“Oh, great! A garbage and my son ramp!”) Throwing gasoline on Maya’s fire is school groundskeeper, Kenneth, the most rare of creatures in Maya’s universe: someone who’s not afraid of her. JJ, too, sours on the place immediately, thanks to the drip of an aide he’s been assigned and a classroom full of self-satisfied fellow students, all too eager to “celebrate” him. For uber-athlete, Dylan, no number of dollars poured into a track can make up for the indignity of a new, touchy-feely coach who goes waaaay too easy on Dylan’s soft new teammates. After one day, all the DiMeos are ready to bail on the place and move on – all of them except Ray, who finds himself on the outs again. He wants – needs – to stay and give the place a shot, drawn by the siren song of the school’s astronomy club and the girl-of-his dreams, Jillian, who counts herself as its sole member.
Things come to a head when Ray defies Maya and sneaks out after he takes a stand and demands that the family stay put. For him, for once. JJ finds an unlikely new “voice” in Mom’s adversary, Kenneth. In a way, Ray, in standing up, finds a voice for himself as well. In another far more real way, though, he better never do that again or he’ll be grounded until he’s thirty.
Square Roots
Meet the Desais, a family who sees the world from a unique point of view. While others look to comic book superheroes to save the world, the Desais know who the real superheroes are: engineers. From creating Pyramids to iPads, they’ll tell you the world would be nothing without them. Coincidentally, all the Desais are engineers, so they have some pretty big brains... which they may occasionally remind you of.
India-born parents, Bina and Mukesh, believe so much in hard work, they don’t even let their grandkids eat Lucky Charms. There’s no such thing as luck, just hard work.
Daughter Saleena, is considered the “hippie” of the family because she loves the environment, hates people, and has a PhD in Nuclear Waste Management from MIT. Regardless, her mother is determined to get her married. Or as she puts it, find a ‘covalent bond’.
Son, Daneesh “Dan”, couldn’t do more than one push-up as a kid, so he worked hard to build his mind as his weapon. He loves applying his engineering skills to everyday life to solve problems for friends and family, especially when they don’t ask for it. Dan’s wife, Ruth, is a fun-loving daughter of a biker who feels like the odd-woman-out in this family of brainiacs. But she really admires all the love they have for each other.
Ruth has just discovered that, back when they met, Dan used an algorithm to see if they’d be compatible spouses, including categories like “Bladder Synchronization Frequency.” It resulted in a definitive ‘NO’. This revelation leads them to explore their very opposite views on just about everything, until Dan ultimately points out he still married her. Why? Because Ruth brings so much to his life that numbers could never express.
Dan and Ruth’s two children, Paige and Owen, have traits of both parents, but are still expected to become engineers by Dan’s side of the family, whether they want to or not. Hint: they don’t.
Despite their logical approach to life, things often get illogical with the Desais. Like when Owen and his grandfather create a cereal called “Hardworking Charms” to sell at school, which gets Owen suspended. Or when Dan tries to persuade Paige to do Precocious Math, instead of Rock Camp, by engineering a simulated dystopia in their living room to show Ruth and Paige the doom that comes from trading “math for meth”. It’s moments like these when Ruth has to remind Dan that he’s so smart, he circles back to stupid.
Still Star-Crossed
Still Star-Crossed, a period drama from Shondaland, picks up where this famous story ends. The deaths of Romeo and Juliet have escalated the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets. The streets of Verona have become dangerous, traitors have emerged, and the kingdom is vulnerable to attack.
The young ruling Prince of Verona, Escalus, wants to end the feud and bring peace to the kingdom. Following the sage advice of his sister Princess Isabella he devises a plan to marry a Capulet to a Montague to unite the families and strengthen his position.
He commands a union between Romeo’s cousin, the womanizing Benvolio, with Juliet’s cousin, Rosaline, who is in love with Prince Escalus. Each is fiery and independent.
In the pandemonium on the streets after Romeo and Juliet’s deaths, Benvolio saves Rosaline from assault. Instead of being grateful, she’s insulting. Their courtship has a long way to go and they’ll have to banter their way to a compromise in the midst of treachery, power grabs and palace intrigue. Another star-crossed love story begins.
The Death of Eva Sofia Valdez
Born and raised in Havana, Eva Sofia Valdez (Gina Torres) immigrated to Miami and won herself the American dream through decades of hard work. With a small conglomerate of local businesses and a tight-knit, loving family she seemingly has it all. But a chance encounter with the former love of her life (and three mysterious shadow women) is about to change all of that…
At a fundraising party for her charity, Eva Sofia is confronted by Miami Mayoral candidate, Blair Monrose (a member of Miami’s most powerful family). Although Eva Sofia immediately recognizes Blair as the man who seduced her and abandoned her in Havana twenty-seven years ago, Blair seems oblivious. Outraged and wounded by Blair’s callous dismissal, Eva Sofia begins an epic quest for revenge.
In an attempt to bring Blair and the Monrose family to its knees, Eva Sofia decides that her youngest son, Nicolas (a charming young attorney with a love of ladies and the occasional bump of cocaine) should run against Blair in the mayoral election. This causes her eldest son, Sebastian (the quiet, stable manager of the family’s finances) to question Eva’s ability to run the family empire and inflames the brother’s sibling rivalry.
When Eva’s plans to secretly buy her way on to the board of Morose Rum are frustrated, she enlists the help of three supernatural shadow women, with deadly consequences…
The Fluffy Shop
Breakout comedian Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias is famous for his TV specials, Hawaiian shirts and self-proclaimed ‘I’m not fat, I’m fluffy’ physique. His new show takes inspiration from this real life. He plays Gabe, a touring standup comic, struggling to sustain his relationships at home while committed to being on the road four days out of every week.
Gabe’s long-time girlfriend, Carmen, runs the merchandise business out of "The Fluffy Shop,” a custom warehouse Gabe built next door to the home they share with her 13-year-old son Frankie. Gabe’s current success is a far cry from his background growing up without a dad. Gabe has helped raise his step-son Frankie overcompensating for his own deprived childhood, often spoiling the boy in an effort to provide him with the fun things little Gabe never had.
Carmen is joined at the shop by Gabe’s loving but incompetent best friend, Memo, and the shop handyman, Lance. When Gabe is off on the road performing he is often joined by his hustling manager, Reggie, who has worked with Gabe since the beginning and enjoys drafting off of Gabe’s celebrity to try and meet women. This ragtag crew of friends are fiercely loyal to Gabe and, despite their many comedic failings, he is loyal to them, never forgetting his own humble origins.
While excessive travel has built Gabe’s career, it has also cost him in his relationship with Carmen. Forced to choose between his love of performing and spending more time at home, Gabe chooses his work and fans. This decision compels Carmen to break off their relationship. However, their mutual respect and love for Frankie now forces Gabe and Carmen to work out terms under which they will continue to co-parent her son together. This won’t be easy since Carmen is a strict mom and Gabe tends to fly by the seat of his pants on parenting matters, but watching their give and take will be much of the fun in this show. Our stories will be told during the three days out of every week when Gabe is home in Long Beach facing up to his neglected responsibilities as a father, a boss and a friend.
The Jury
What happens when a person’s fate is placed in the hands of twelve strangers? Like 12 Angry Men meets the podcast Serial, The Jury follows a single murder trial over one season as seen through the eyes of the jurors.
This season's case involves high school honor student Michael Cleary, on trial for the murder of 17-year old Victoria Cape. There is seemingly damning evidence of him on videotape, but of course, there is more to this case than meets the video camera’s eye.
The twelve jurors come from different economic backgrounds, races, and religions and see the world and the trial differently. As the evidence unfolds, the jurors’ biases and past experiences influence how they perceive the evidence and ultimately determine the guilt or innocence of the accused.
70 year-old Judge Elmer Talbot explains the instructions with his heavy Texas accent to the twelve jurors: geeky IT guy Ernest Frost, bored as hell Melody Watson, hijab wearing Sobia Khan, working mom Angela Clayton, shrewd businessman Dan Guest, hipster artist Jared Wheaton, Hispanic marine Oscar Barrientos, the friendly Reverend Jim Pyken, perfect housewife Haley Winfield, blue-collar hardass Troy Woodruff, social crusader Monica Rai, and the quintessential maternal figure, Maggie Singer.
Friendships, alliances, and feuds between the jurors will play a part in the deliberations throughout the complex trial in this series.
The Second Fattest Housewife in Westport
Until recently, opinionated, confident, unapologetic, plump Katie Otto (Katy Mixon) has been the third fattest housewife in Westport, Connecticut. This is exactly where she wants to be. So when her chubbier neighbor moves away and she becomes the second fattest housewife, Katie becomes determined to regain her title. On a mission, she tries to orchestrate a suitable buyer for her neighbor’s house. But things don’t go according to her plans.
She lives in this wealthy neighborhood with her adoring and level headed husband, Jeff, who works in public television and their three less-than-perfect kids. The Ottos live in the only remaining split level house - complete with a single car garage - in a cul-de-sac filled with East Coast glamour mansions. Her Lululemon, green-juice loving neighbors with their fake boobs and perfect hair often give her backhanded compliments for being so “real.”
Their eldest daughter is 14 year-old Taylor who went through an awkward phase before emerging drop-dead gorgeous. Katie is worried that her daughter will turn into the typical Westport female.
Meanwhile, 12 year-old Harrison is a mogul in training; a Republican saving his money to buy Apple stock and refusing to donate canned food for the school food drive… something Katie doesn’t approve of at all.
The youngest is sweet yet peculiar 5 year-old Anna-Kat, who is secretly Katie’s favorite. She has multiple phobias, including a fear of germs, but needs to learn that, “Friends are more important than germs.”
As Katie navigates raising her flawed family in a wealthy town filled with “perfect” mommies and their “perfect” offspring she lets us in on her deepest, most unfiltered thoughts through voice-over in this comedy.
Time After Time
It is London, 1893. H.G. Wells (Freddie Stroma) is destined to become a famed science fiction author, but on this evening he’s just a little known writer struggling to get published. He has invited his intellectual friends to show off his new invention—a time machine—but never suspects his late arriving guest, surgeon and friend John Stevenson, is the infamous Jack the Ripper. When the police arrive looking for Jack the Ripper, John sneaks into the time machine and flees to modern day Manhattan with Wells in hot pursuit.
Wells arrives inside a museum exhibit featuring himself, The Man Ahead of His Time. Unrecognized by security, he’s hauled off to the museum curator, Jane Walker, who is attracted to this odd fellow and intrigued that the machine is warm and security videos show two different men seemingly appearing out of thin air.
Wells, meanwhile, is a complete fish out of water, always rising politely whenever Jane stands up, puzzled at everyone staring at the screens of their small devices and awestruck by the bustle and bling of Times Square.
Wells must stop Jack the Ripper who needs Wells' key to the time machine so he can murder throughout the centuries with impunity. Wells manages to hold on to the key, but the Ripper slips through his fingers when Wells is knocked down by a yellow cab.
As luck has it, Jane’s business card is in his pocket and she is called to pick him up from the hospital. She takes H.G. to her apartment where he tells this modern independent woman that she fascinates him. Jane is more wary, but sparks really fly after she rescues him from an electric razor he’s using to shave off his 19th century facial hair. The deal is sealed when he puts on her ex’s jeans and t-shirt, and transforms into a 21st century hunk.
It is the cat and mouse game between Wells and Jack the Ripper that fuels the action, as Wells tries to track down John while John tries to lure Wells in order to get the key. It’s only when Jack the Ripper strikes again that Wells blurts out his true identity to Jane, and proves it by taking her on a trip in the machine three days into the future where, horrified, they learn Jane will be a victim of The Ripper unless they stop him.
Toast
From Shondaland, the new comedy Toast tells the story of engaged couple Max Leeds and Page Sanders, via the impromptu toasts given at their rehearsal dinner the night before their oversized Austin wedding.
Even before the toasts kick off, Max finds himself overwhelmed by Page's wealthy, judgmental parents, Earl and Margie, by the scores of guests at the rehearsal dinner alone, and by the dawning realization of how much of an outsider he is in Page’s world. Page reassures Max that her family really does love him and if they can just survive the next 24 hours, then they’re on their way. Little do they know that these toasts will test the fortitude of their relationship.
In the first toast, Page's notoriously unfiltered best friend, Arden, takes the floor after a few cocktails and dives into the story of how the couple met four years ago at the coffee shop that Max and Julie coown. It becomes increasingly clear that this could go south FAST.
As Arden toasts, secrets are revealed, embarrassing truths come out, and we discover, in flashbacks, the truth of how Max and Page first met. While dealing with the consequences of a past relationship, Page, her sister Toni, and Arden, find themselves out of their element in an artsy neighborhood in Downtown Austin. They end up in Max’s coffee shop where, seeing an initial spark between Max and Page, Arden hooks up with Max’s charming leech of a best friend to create time for Page to get to know Max.
Meanwhile, back at the rehearsal dinner Page is holding her breath throughout this entire toast, terrified Arden will reveal the real reason they were waiting around that coffee shop. If her friends and family are scandalized by Arden's speech so far...what would they say if they knew the real story? And what would Max say if he found out?
It's the first of many toasts that will help give us insight into Max, Page, and their tight knit group of friends and family.
