It’s Rabbit Season, It’s Duck Season, It’s Pilot Season! Detailed Second Look at ABC’s Pilots

Comedies

• How the Hell Am I Normal?
  • Casting:  Jeff Garlin, Wendy McLendon-Covey, George Segal, Troy Gentile, Darien Provost
  • New Info:  It’s still set in the 80’s, but the mom is domineering and the dad is a hot head, the three kids are eccentric and dear old granddad is the goofy rich guy.  Not exactly a stretch for George Segal, is it?
  • Confidence Level:  Lukewarm.  It’s a single camera comedy, so now I’m thinking it’s a cross between Malcom in the Middle, The Wonder Years and The Simpsons.  It could work, especially after Modern Family.
• SPY  
  • Casting: Rob Corddry, Ken Jeong (if Community gets cancelled), Paget Brewster, Mason Cook.
  • New info:  Small change in twist. Corrdry’s character is the father of a highly intelligent son, so he accidentally takes a job at the Secret Service to impress his boy. 
  • Confidence Level:  High.  Still loving the premise, and as long as Corddry is the lead, it wins. 
• Bad Management 
  • Casting:  Sharon Horgan, E.J. Bonilla, David Spade (I guess Rules of Engagement is cancelled). 
  • New info:  Bonilla’s character is a new guy with butt cheek implants.  Horgan is the self centered boss, and she’s going toe to toe with David Spade. 
  • Confidence Level:  Uncertain.  What makes this appealing is Sharon Horgan is writing as well as starring in this.  There seems to be success with that setup in comedy shows, and I like any female slant she can bring to this role.  However, self centered female boss isn’t winning me over. 
• Keep Calm and Karey On (Formerly Crazy Gene)
  • Casting:  Kelly Preston, Jane Seymour
  • New Info: The title has changed, and we know a bit more about Karey, who is according to Deadline, “The clean-nosed black sheep in a family of petty thieves, drug addicts, and narcissists.”  The whole brother is behind bars, raising his kids and her adopted African American son is still the case.
  • Confidence level:  Very poor.  For one, this show has already had a major casting departure.  Majandra Delfino, who was cast before anyone.  That’s a shame considering she was the only person in the cast so far who was actually funny.  They’ve decided Kelly Preston should be the lead focus instead, which doesn’t bode well for the attracting any younger viewers.  I’m not sure what Jane Seymour’s role is in all this, but she’s not anyone I’d cast for a comedy.  The behind the scenes buzz is this show is riddled with stereotypes. 
• Divorce: A Love Story
  • Casting:  Jason Jones, Andrea Anders. 
  • New info:  None.  Same premise, a divorced couple that’s worse apart than together.
  • Confidence Level:  Uncertain.  Why couldn’t it be Jason Jones and Samantha Bee?  I suppose that may have gotten too weird for the real life husband and wife.  I think the casting is good, let’s just hope they get the right material to work with. 
• Middle Age Rage
  • Casting:  Annie Mumolo, Will Sasso.  Melanie Leishman, Wyatt Oleff. 
  • New info:  None.  No word outside of the original premise, which is a mother fed up being invisible and decides to start speaking out.
  • Confidence Level:  Poor.  Unknown cast, no buzz, a premise that will get old after two episodes…Early word is this is a very bad script. 
• Mixology
  • Casting: Adam Campbell, Alexis Carra, Andrew Santino, Blake Lee, Craig Frank, Kate Simses, Sarah Bolger, Vanessa Lengies.
  • New info:  This is being called an “ambitious, high concept effort.”  It’s at it’s core about five guys and five girls who try to find love in a Manhattan bar in one night. 
  • Confidence level:  Semi-promising.  This is another show with a casting exit already, but this one seems more amicable.  Mercedes Masohn’s character was changed and it just wasn’t a fit anymore.  She’s being shopped around for other pilots.  I still like comedic minds in the writer’s room, and Larry Charles brings comedy gold.  Still, it sounds busy for a comedy. 
• Pulling
  • Casting: June Diane Raphael, Jenny Slate, Kristen Schaal
  • New info:  Here’s a better description, again from Deadline.  “Revolves around three dysfunctional women in their 30s — Donna (Raphael), Karen (Slate) and Louise (Schaal) — living their lives the way they want, even if society tells them they should have it all figured out by this point.” 
  • Confidence Level: Promising.  Mandy Moore made a high profile exit, but Kristen Schaal is a very funny lady.  She’s way more wacky than Moore, so they definitely did take that character in a different direction.  Jenny Slate is not slouch either.  Casting is good, so let’s hope the writing delivers.
• Super Fun Night
  • Casting: Anna Camp, Rebel Wilson, Alexis Knapp, Kelen Coleman, Kevin Bishop
  • New info:  None.  Three nerdy friends decide to have fun every Friday night.
  • Confidence level: No idea.  This pilot was already shot, probably since it’s a revived project from CBS.  I’m curious to see if ABC thinks it’ll fit their new TGIF revival.  Otherwise, I honestly don’t see where this fits in the schedule.   
• Trophy Wife
  • Casting: Bradley Whitford, Gianna LePera, Malin Akerman, Marcia Gay Harden, Michaela Watkins, Natalie Morales, Ryan Lee
  • New info:  I’m not sure how well the premise was spelled out to begin with, so I’ll share the basics.  A 27 year old woman (Akerman) finds herself married to an older guy (Whitford) with three manipulative kids and two ex-wives. 
  • Confidence level:  Not sure.  There hasn’t been anything out on this project since November.  Imdb had it filming in December.  I love Brad Whitford but a good actor needs good material.  Stay tuned.
• Untitled Cullen Brothers Pilot
  • Casting: Maggie Lawson, James Caan, Lenora Crichlow, Ben Koldyke, Griffin Gluck
  • New info:  Um, it’s still untitled.  Lawson is still a divorced mother moving in with her ex-baseball playing dad, except she ends up coaching her son’s little league and that like changes her life or something. 
  • Confidence level: Ambivalent.  The premise isn’t winning me over, but James Caan is a major coup.  Still though, what demographic are they going for here?
• Untitled John Leguizamo Project
  • Casting: John Leguizamo (duh!), Andrea Savage, Elizabeth Pena, Luke Ganalon
  • New info:  It’s going from single camera to multi-camera.  That’s probably a better idea.  It’s still a fish out of water story about a famous Latino dude living in Manhattan’s Upper West Side with a privileged wife and down to earth parents.  It’s the Latino Jeffersons!
  • Confidence level: Don’t really care.  Why isn’t this called the John Leguizamo show by now?  This smells like a TGIF sitcom as well.

Coming up next, FOX!