Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Why 2012 Will Be "The Year Of The Soap" (Part 3): Promising Fall Pilots

In Part 1 and Part 2 of our "The Year of the Soap" series, we looked at the massive number of new and returning serials in the television and internet landscape.   We are currently in pilot season and there are potentially dozens of new soaps that may be headed our way in primetime this Fall during the 2012-2013 TV season.

Some of our favorites (judging only by the descriptions made available to date):

NASHVILLE (ABC)
Logline: A family soap set against the backdrop of the Nashville music scene that follows one star at her peak and one on the rise.  (Hayden Panettiere, Eric Close and Jonathan Jackson have been cast in the pilot.)
From: Writer-EP Callie Khouri; EPs RJ Cutler, Steve Buchanan; Gaylord Entertainment, ABC Studios, and Lionsgate
DEVIOUS MAIDS (ABC)
Logline: Based on the Mexican format, this soap follows four maids with ambition and dreams of their own while they work for the rich and famous in Beverly Hills. 
From: Writer-EP Marc Cherry; EP Sabrina Wind; ABC Studios

AMERICANA (ABC)
Logline:  A soap set around a legendary fashion designer and his family and business.
From: Writer-EP Michael Seitzman; EPs Mark Gordon and Nicholas Pepper; Mark Gordon Company, ABC Studios
SHELTER (CW)
Logline: Drama set at an historic New England summer resort where the new and returning staff attend to the practical, emotional, and often comical needs of the guests while navigating friendships, rivalries, and romances of their own.
From: Writer-EP Mark Schwahn; EPs J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk; Bad Robot Productions, Mastermind Laboratories in association with Warner Bros. Television
GILDED LILLYS (ABC)
Set in 1895, this epic love story follows the opening of the first grand luxury hotel in NYC, against a backdrop of vicious family rivalries, scandalous secrets, and conflict and comingling of classes.
From: Writer K.J. Steinberg; EP Shonda Rhimes; ABC Studios

Other promising announced pilots (in alphabetical order):

666 PARK AVE. (ABC)
Logline: When a young couple accepts an offer to manage one of the most historic apartment buildings in New York City, they unwittingly begin to experience supernatural occurrences, which complicate and endanger the lives of everyone in the building.
From: Writer-EP David Wilcox;  EPs: Leslie Morgenstein, Gina Girolamo; Warner Bros. Television, Alloy Entertainment
THE ASSET (FOX)
Logline: A character-driven drama set in the CIA’s New York City station, focusing on a female agent with a very specialized and controversial area of expertise.
From: Writer-EP Josh Friedman; Twentieth Century Fox Television


ARROW (CW)
Logline: Based on the DC Comics comic book, this hour-long drama is a modern retelling of the legendary DC Comics character Green Arrow. Stephen Amell to star.
From: Writer-EPs Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg; Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television

BAD GIRLS (NBC)
Logline: From the producers of Shameless, and adapted from the long-running U.K. hit series of the same name, Bad Girls follows the ins and outs of a group of unlikely women in a federal prison: a scandalous female warden, her new protégé and a host of inmates – some mothers, some friends—who struggle with loyalties to people on the inside and the outside.
From: Writer-EP Nancy Pimental; Warner Bros. Television, John Wells Productions, and Shed Media U. 

BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE (NBC)
Logline: An imaginative and thematically rich ensemble “what if” drama set 10 minutes in the future where families of mechanical human beings exist to service the human population — that is, until some of the mechanicals begin to “awaken.” 
From: Writer-EP Michael McDonald; EPs Robert M. Sertner, Stephen Hopkins; Universal Television and ABC Studios
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (ABC)
Logline: A fantastical reimagining of the classic fairy tale set in a mythical, dangerous world wherein a beautiful and tough princess discovers an unlikely connection with a mysterious beast.
From: Writer Jon Steinberg; EPs Gary Fleder, Mary Beth Basile; ABC Studios

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (CW)
Logline: Loosely based on the CBS’ Beauty and the Beast series from the 1980s, this is a modern-day romantic love story with a procedural twist. (Yes, this is in addition to ABC’sBeauty and the Beast project.)
From: Writer-EPs Jennifer Levin, Sherri Cooper; EPs Paul J. Witt and C. Anthony Thomas, Ron Koslow, Bill Haber; CBS Television Studios 

THE CARRIE DIARIES (CW)
Logline: Based on the novel by Candace Bushnell, a young Carrie Bradshaw comes of age in the 1980s, asking her first questions about love, sex, friendship, and family while exploring the worlds of high school and Manhattan. 
From: Writer-EP Amy Harris; EPs Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage, Len Goldstein, Candace Bushnell; Fake Empire in association with Warner Bros. Television 

CHICAGO FIRE (NBC)
Logline: From the writing team of 3:10 to Yuma comes this action-driven drama exploring the complex and heroic men and women of the Windy City’s Fire Department. 
From: Writer-EPs Derek Haas, Michael Brandt; Dick Wolf, Danielle Gelber, Peter Jankowski; Universal Television and Wolf Films 

COUNTY (NBC)
Logline: Emmy-winning creator Jason Katims takes us into the lives of a group of young doctors, nurses, and administrators, in a frenetic underfunded and morally compromising L.A. County Hospital. 
From: Writer-EP Jason Katims; Universal Television 

CULT (CW)
Logline: After a rash of disappearances and a likely murder, an inquisitive, young female production assistant on a wildly popular television show called Cult joins a journalist-blogger in investigating the rabid fans of the series who might be re-creating crimes seen on the program, in real life. 
From: Writer-EP  Rockne O’Bannon; EPs  Josh Schwartz,  Stephanie Savage, Len Goldstein; Fake Empire in association with Warner Bros. Television 

DO NO HARM (NBC)
Logline: A brilliant neurosurgeon wrestles with his dangerous alter ego that threatens to wreak havoc on his personal and professional life. 
From: Writer David Schulner; EPs Peter Traugott; Rachel Kaplan; Universal Television 

GOTHAM (ABC)
Logline: After pursuing a seemingly unsolvable case, a female cop discovers a magical world that exists within New York City. A world that goes unseen by normal humans, and takes all of the familiar NYC landmarks and reinvents them in a magical otherworldly manner. 
From: Writer-EP Michael Green; 20th Century Fox Television 

GUILTY (FOX)
Logline: After being falsely convicted of fraud and stripped of his legal license, a brilliant, morally questionable defense attorney uses his unusual methods to solve the cases he’s been prohibited from handling and ultimately to exact revenge on the man who set him up. 
From: Writer Marc Guggenheim; EPs Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, McG, Peter Johnson; Bonanza Productions / Berlanti Productions / Wonderland Sound and Vision, and Warner Bros. Television 

FRIDAY NIGHT DINNER (NBC)
Logline: Based on the U.K. format, this single-camera comedy about a quirky family that has supper together every Friday night is adapted by Emmy-winning creator Greg Daniels.  Note: Very reminiscent of Lauralee Bell's FAMILY DINNER (more on that later). 
From: Writer-EP Greg Daniels; EPs Ken Kwapis, Howard Klein; Deedle Dee Prod/ 3 Arts/ Big Talk Television and Universal Television
THE FRONTIER (NBC)
Logline: In an intense tale of survival a group of disparate travelers embark on an incredible cross-country adventure through the West, where danger stalks them at every turn.
From: Writer-EP Shaun Cassidy; EPs Thomas Schlamme, Jeff Kwatinetz, Josh Barry; Sony and Prospect Park

JOEY DAKOTA (CW)
Logline: Based on the Israeli format Danny Hollywood. In this romantic time-travel musical, a documentary filmmaker travels back in time to the 1990s where she meets and falls in love with the rock-star subject of her film. When she unexpectedly returns to the present day, she must find her way back to the past to reunite with her love and prevent his untimely death.
From: Writer Bert Royal; EPs Mark Harmon, Kim Tannenbaum, Eric Tannenbaum, Martha Haight; CBS Television Studios in association with Harmon/Tannenbaum

LAST RESORT (ABC)
An international action-thriller-soap that follows the story of establishing a new society in a world held hostage by the crew of a ballistic missile submarine. Basically, a U.S. nuclear sub crew refuses orders to fire their missiles and escapes to a NATO outpost and declares themselves the smallest nuclear nation.
From: Shawn Ryan, Karl Gajdusek 

MIDNIGHT SUN (NBC)
Logline: This thriller follows the mysterious disappearance of a group living on a commune in Alaska. Based on an acclaimed Israeli format, a female FBI cult specialist starts an investigation that uncovers a larger conspiracy.  
From: Writer-EP Lisa Zwerling; EPs Peter Traugott, Rachel Kaplan, Alon Aranya, Efrat Shmayadron, Minit Toovi, Noah Stollman, and Oded Davidoff; Universal Television 

MOCKINGBIRD LANE (NBC)
Logline: From writer-executive producer Bryan Fuller, Mockingbird Lane is an imaginative reinvention of THE MUNSTERS as a visually spectacular one-hour drama.  Note: Will not shoot pilot until June. 
From: Writer-EP Bryan Fuller; EPs Bryan Singer, John Wirth; Universal Television and Bad Hat Harry Productions
PENOZA (ABC)
Logline: Based on the Dutch format, Penoza centers on the widow of an assassinated criminal who is forced to adopt her husband’s role in an organized-crime syndicate in order to protect her family.
From: Writer-EP Melissa Rosenberg; EPs Alon Aranya and Howard Klein; ABC Studios, Endemol Studios
REVOLUTION (NBC)
Logline: A high octane action drama from J. J. Abrams following a group of characters struggling to survive and reunite with loved ones in a world where all forms of energy have mysteriously ceased to exist.
From: Writer-EP: Logline: Eric Kripke; J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk

SCRUPLES (ABC)
Logline: Based on the 1978 novel Scruples that follows the life of Wilhelmina Hunnewell Winthrop, a.k.a. Billy, a previously plump woman who loses weight, becomes fabulously cool, and survives a very rich (and very old) first husband. She ends up opening up a Beverly Hills clothing boutique called Scruples.
From: Writer-EPs Bob Brush, Mel Harris; EPs Tony Krantz, Natalie Portman, Annette Savitch; Flame Ventures LLC in association with Warner Bros. Television
THE SELECTION (CW)
Logline: Based on the forthcoming series of books by Kiera Cass, The Selection is an epic romance set 300 years in the future which centers on a poor young woman who is chosen by lottery to participate in a competition to become the next queen of a war-torn nation at a crossroads.
From:  Writer-EPs  Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain; Warner Bros. Television
UNTITLED BERMAN/WRIGHT SHOW (FOX)
Logline: A young female thoracic surgeon with Bridgeport roots is split between two worlds as she juggles her career and her lifelong debt to the South Chicago mob.
From: Writer Robert Wright; EPs Michael Dinner, Josh Berman, Robert Wright; Sony
UNTITLED KARYN USHER SHOW (FOX)
Logline: The orphaned 17-year-old daughter of a CIA operative encounters a mysterious rogue agent-assassin who serves as both her surrogate father and professional mentor in the spy world.
From: Writer Karyn Usher; EPs Marty Adelstein, Shawn Levy, Becky Clements; 20th Century Fox Television / 21 Laps
UNTITLED KEVIN WILLIAMSON SHOW (FOX)
Logline: An edge-of-your-seat thriller about the complex relationship between a diabolical serial killer and the damaged FBI agent who took him down. After the killer escaped, the agent is reactivated and discovers that he is no longer just hunting one man, but a massive cult of serial killers created and manipulated during his time in prison. Kevin Bacon is near a deal to star as the agent.
From: Writer Kevin Williamson; Warner Bros. Television
UNTITLED ROLAND EMMERICH SHOW (ABC)
Logline: Set in New York City against the backdrop of the presidential race. Follows a young astrophysics student who finds out that his destiny lies not in science but somewhere between hell and heaven.
From: Writer-EPs Emmerich and Harald Kloser; EP Nicholas Pepper; Mark Gordon Company

ZERO HOUR (ABC)
Logline: A bizarre twist of fate pulls a man who’s spent 20 years as the editor of a skeptics magazine into one of the most compelling conspiracies in human history. 
From: Writer-EP Paul Scheuring; EPs Lorenzo DiBonaventura and Dan McDermott; ABC Studios

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