Note: The full article on Deadline will give you more information on the early buzz worthy CBS, NBC and full FOX & ABC Pilots, so please do click on the link below.
T-minus 1 month until the start of the broadcast upfront week, we are launching Deadline’s annual Pilot Buzz feature. As usual, the first installment is very incomplete as many pilots are sill filming, and some have not even started production. We will be adding feedback on more pilots in the upcoming Pilot Buzz editions. For now, here are some of the early standouts that people are talking about.
ABC’s Reese Witherspoon-produced drama pilot Broken is getting buzz in the early going. The Meaghan Oppenheimer-written project was an early favorite at the script stage, and it got a further boost when Anna Paquin signed on as the lead, a ruthless Dallas divorce attorney. Just like Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. three years ago, spinoff pilot Marvel’s Most Wanted is considered a sure bet for a series order. (Marvel’s Agent Carter was a straight-to-series order off of a one-shot). Two pilots this season are looking to capitalize on the current interest in docuseries and docudramas chronicling legal cases. Both, ABC drama The Jury and NBC comedy Trail, are getting some early buzz. Also mentioned at ABC are Kevin Williamson’s Time After Time and The Death of Eva Sofia Valdez. Again, it is very early, with a number of high-profile pilots barely starting production, including both Shondaland projects. ABC has been expected to put a stronger emphasis on procedurals post-regime change, so we will likely see other procedural drama pilot emerging as contenders alongside Broken. All ABC drama pilots are now full-length, with high-concept drama Spark being upgraded from a pilot presentation to pilot.
Given its legacy, hourlong Fox pilot 24: Legacy — an offshoot from the long-running real-time drama — looks pretty strong for pickup early on. Also having an early momentum on the hourlong side are horror-themed The Exorcist, which has been well liked at Fox since the script stage, Lee Daniels‘ music-themed drama, which underwent some reshoots, as well Dan Fogelman’s baseball drama Pitch and possibly Lethal Weapon. Fox already has two dramas with series orders for next season, Shots Fired and the Prison Break event series, making for a pretty tight drama field.
Several CW projects from big-name producers are getting early attention. That includes Riverdale from Greg Berlanti, the paranormal drama from Kevin Williamson and the Mars project produced by Frank Marshall (inspired by the tale of the Lost Colony and likely boosted by the success of The Martian.) Frequency also is considered a possibility.
ABC’s Reese Witherspoon-produced drama pilot Broken is getting buzz in the early going. The Meaghan Oppenheimer-written project was an early favorite at the script stage, and it got a further boost when Anna Paquin signed on as the lead, a ruthless Dallas divorce attorney. Just like Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. three years ago, spinoff pilot Marvel’s Most Wanted is considered a sure bet for a series order. (Marvel’s Agent Carter was a straight-to-series order off of a one-shot). Two pilots this season are looking to capitalize on the current interest in docuseries and docudramas chronicling legal cases. Both, ABC drama The Jury and NBC comedy Trail, are getting some early buzz. Also mentioned at ABC are Kevin Williamson’s Time After Time and The Death of Eva Sofia Valdez. Again, it is very early, with a number of high-profile pilots barely starting production, including both Shondaland projects. ABC has been expected to put a stronger emphasis on procedurals post-regime change, so we will likely see other procedural drama pilot emerging as contenders alongside Broken. All ABC drama pilots are now full-length, with high-concept drama Spark being upgraded from a pilot presentation to pilot.
Given its legacy, hourlong Fox pilot 24: Legacy — an offshoot from the long-running real-time drama — looks pretty strong for pickup early on. Also having an early momentum on the hourlong side are horror-themed The Exorcist, which has been well liked at Fox since the script stage, Lee Daniels‘ music-themed drama, which underwent some reshoots, as well Dan Fogelman’s baseball drama Pitch and possibly Lethal Weapon. Fox already has two dramas with series orders for next season, Shots Fired and the Prison Break event series, making for a pretty tight drama field.
Several CW projects from big-name producers are getting early attention. That includes Riverdale from Greg Berlanti, the paranormal drama from Kevin Williamson and the Mars project produced by Frank Marshall (inspired by the tale of the Lost Colony and likely boosted by the success of The Martian.) Frequency also is considered a possibility.
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