NBC has 11 drama pilots, and three of those already have had been ordered to series (one is a miniseries though). NBC hasn’t been doing too bad with dramas. They actually have a hit this year with The Blacklist. It is currently the only show that’s been renewed for another season. However, Chicago Fire remains strong and the spinoff Chicago PD looks like it’s catching on. Law and Order: SVU and Grimm will be back as well. NBC also has 3 hours of The Voice to run with most of the year. The bubble shows are Revolution, Parenthood, and Hannibal (Dracula is pretty much gone). The fate of these shows is going to highly rest on how these pilots do.
The three pilots ordered to series are:
Emerald City (10 episodes): It’s a mishmash re-imagining of the 14 Frank L. Baum books that created Emerald City and the Land of Oz around it. A head strong, 20 year old Dorothy Gale is thrust into an epic, eye-opening and bloody battle for the control of Oz. This ain’t no fairy tale.
Shades of Blue (13 episodes): A single mother and detective recruited to work undercover for the FBI task force. Starring Jennifer Lopez.
The Slap (8 episodes): A miniseries based on the critically acclaimed Australian series of the same name. It’s a complex family drama that explodes where a man slaps another couple’s misbehaving child. This seemingly minor incident spirals as the family is pulled apart, long-held secrets are exposed, and it ignites a lawsuit that challenges the core American values of all who are pulled into it.
Feeling anything for those? I kind of like the Emerald City one, but then again Sci-Fi/Fantasy is in my wheelhouse. Here are the others:
Babylon Fields: The dead are resurrected and try to resume with their former lives.
Prognosis: This is going to fail. It has Skeet Ulrich. He is the drama equivalent of Ted McGinley of Jump the Shark lore. When his name is on a project, it’s dead. Besides, doesn’t this sound like an exact copy of ABC’s Resurrection?
Coercion: An Air Force officer in a high security post has to deal with his Russian parents, naturally former spies, who are tasked with recruiting him into espionage activity.
Prognosis: Huh? I know a thing or two about background security checks. This guy would have never attained a high ranking position with parents like that. Anyway, it’s not my thing.
Constantine: The small screen take on DC Comics character John Constantine, the enigmatic con-man turned supernatural detective who is thrust into the role of defending all from dark forces of beyond.
Prognosis: My kind of thing! They’ve tried to do this before in the movies (Keenu Reeves?) and it was just boring. I’ve always hoped for a faithful version, and comics adaptations are better suited for TV than movies IMHO. This is a Warner Brothers project, who own DC, so you know following the true spirit of the comic will be a must. The risk is a lot of these adaptations can be butchered too under the wrong hands. However, comic stories come with a built in audience usually, so if this is well done it could result in some eyeballs for NBC.
The Mysteries of Laura: The life and relationships of a female homicide detective who can handle murderous criminals, but not her evil twins.
Prognosis: Evil twins? This comes from Greg Berlanti and Warner Brothers though, and it stars Debra Messing, so it has a shot.
The Odyssey: Three families are torn apart when a stranded female soldier, a disillusioned corporate attorney, and a disrespected political analyst are pulled into the same international military conspiracy.
Prognosis: I got nothing.
Salvation: A family drama set against the backdrop of a Texas mega church where family, faith, and corruption are explored in equal measure.
Prognosis: NBC should leave the soaps to ABC. They aren’t doing them any favors either.
State of Affairs: About a key CIA attaché who councils the president on high stakes incidents around the world. She has to balance her “intense” political responsibilities with a complicated personal life.
Prognosis: Not my thing, but this is the high profile project starring Katherine Heigl, who is also an EP. NBC does need star power, but they need well written star power.
Tin Man: Drama set in the near future about a fugitive robot accused of first degree murder who may hold the key to the future of human evolution…AND the young female public defender forced to fight for his cause.
Prognosis: NBC has had worse. They’ve had better too.
That just leaves FOX and The CW. One is in pilot season, one isn’t, but both have some interesting new shows coming. I’ll look at their pilots next. In the meantime, how hopeful are you of NBC getting some actual hits next season? No Chicago Cub analogies please. J
Very informative, so thank you a lot! Now, where is the rest? You promised.
I know! I have FOX mostly done, but I had to stop to write reviews for new episodes and do my duties for the WFB site. Look for FOX and The CW later this week. Glad you found this informative!