BLINK (The CW) - The David Marshall Grant-produced drama - about "a family whose lives are forever changed when the patriarch has a car accident resulting in a coma-like syndrome where he cannot speak or move, but can see and hear all" - is the latest to receive a pilot order at the netlet. Vera Herbert penned the hour and will serve as a supervising producer for CBS Television Studios. Carl Beverly and Sarah Timberman of the studio-based Timberman-Beverly Productions are executive producing alongside Grant. (Deadline.com)
HOW THE HELL AM I NORMAL? (ABC) - Jeff Garlin ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") has scored a role on the comedy pilot, about growing up in the 1980s with a highly screwed up but loving family. He'll play patriarch Murray ("hot-tempered, gruff") who "struggles to stay calm after his last heart attack upon a stern warning by his doctor." Wendi McLendon-Covey also stars as his wife in the single-camera project, from writer Adam F. Goldberg, director Seth Gordon and producer Sony Pictures Television. (Deadline.com)
JOE & JOE & JANE (NBC) - Larry Wilmore has boarded the comedy pilot, about "a conflict-avoidant children's book author caught in an ongoing tug-of-war between his wife (Sally Pressman) and his co-author/best friend." He'll play Walter, Jane's (Pressman) "overly nurturing, recently divorced therapist stepfather." 20th Century Fox Television is behind the multi-camera project, from co-creators Joe Port & Joe Wiseman. (THR.com)
MJF (NBC) - Ana Nogueira has booked a role on the upcoming comedy, which stars Michael J. Fox as Mike Burnaby, a husband and father of three in New York City juggling the challenges of family and career while dealing with Parkinson's disease. She'll play Kay, "Mike's very young, very sweet, hard-working but very emotional segment producer." Betsy Brandt, Conor Romero, Jack Gore, Juliette Goglia, Katie Finneran and Wendell Pierce also star in the Sony Pictures Television-based half-hour, from co-creators Sam Laybourne and Will Gluck. (Deadline.com)
MOM (CBS) - Allison Janney ("Mr. Sunshine") has boarded the comedy pilot, about Christy (Anna Faris), a newly sober single mom who tries to pull her life together in Napa Valley. She'll play Christy's own mom Bonnie, "who is the source of a lot of Christy's previous problems, most likely because she wasn't the best mother." Chuck Lorre, Eddie Gorodetsky and Gemma Baker are all behind the multi-camera project, which is set up at Warner Bros. Television. (Deadline.com)
SPY (ABC) - Rob Corddry ("Childrens Hospital") has booked the lead role on the comedy pilot, about a hapless single father who, trying to impress his horribly precocious nine-year-old son, quits his job and goes to work for the CIA. He'll play said dad, Tim Elliot, in the ABC Studios-based half-hour, which is based on Simeon Goulden's U.K. effort of the same name. Hat Trick Productions' Jimmy Mulville also serves as an executive producer. (Deadline.com)
SURGEON GENERAL, THE (A.K.A. UNTITLED SAMUEL BAUM PROJECT) (CBS) - Samuel Baum's drama - about a fictional Surgeon General of the United States and the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps - has been ordered to pilot by the Eye. Said effort is set up at CBS Television Studios with writer Baum executive producing. (Deadline.com)
TOMORROW PEOPLE, THE (The CW) - The netlet's import of Roger Price's 1970s British series - about "several young people from around the world who represent the next stage in human evolution, possessing special powers, including the ability to teleport and communicate with each other telepathically" - has snagged a pilot commitment. Phil Klemmer penned the teleplay to the hour and is executive producing alongside Julie Plec, FremantleMedia's Tony Optican and Berlanti Productions' Greg Berlanti and Melissa Kellner Berman for Warner Bros. Television. (Deadline.com)
UNDER THE DOME (CBS) - Jolene Purdy and Nicholas Strong are the latest additions to the upcoming drama, about a small town that is suddenly and inexplicably sealed off from the rest of the world by an enormous transparent dome. Purdy will play Dodee, "a brilliant, eccentric engineer at the local radio station who will draw on her unique skills in an effort to make contact with the world outside the dome"; while Strong is set as Phil, "a popular radio DJ and indie rock fanatic, a charismatic figure with a dark secret." Alex Koch, Britt Robertson, Colin Ford and Natalie Martinez also star in the project, based on Stephen King's best-selling novel and produced by Amblin Television and CBS Television Studios. (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED HATFIELDS & MCCOYS PROJECT (NBC) - John Glenn's present day take on the Hatfields and McCoys - set in Pittsburgh, where "a startling death re-ignites the feud between these two legendary families, unleashing decades of resentment" - has received a pilot order from the Peacock. Beau Flynn, Charlize Theron and Dawn Parouse Olmstead also serve as executive producers on the hour, which is set up at ABC Studios. (Deadline.com)
BIG THUNDER (ABC) - Jason Fuchs's small screen take on Disney's famed roller-coaster ride - about "a brilliant, late 19th century New York doctor who relocates his family to a frontier mining town run by a powerful, but mysterious tycoon" - has received a pilot order from the network. Chris Morgan also serves as an executive producer on the hour, from ABC Studios. (Deadline.com)
BRENDA FORVER (NBC, New!) - Andrew Leeds and David Lampson have snagged a pilot order from the Peacock for a new high-concept comedy which follows the title role both as a 31-year-old woman and a 13-year-old girl. Sony Pictures Television-based Fedora Entertainment is behind the half-hour with Peter Tolan and Michael Wimer executive producing alongside said duo. Ellie Kemper ("The Office") is reportedly in early discussions to topline the project. (Deadline.com)
GOTHICA (ABC) - Matt Lopez's drama - "a sexy gothic soap set in present day that weaves together a mythology that incorporates the legends of Dracula, Jekyll and Hyde, Frankenstein and Dorian Gray among others" - is moving forward to pilot at the Alphabet. Said hour is set up at ABC Studios with Mark Gordon and Nicholas Pepper of The Mark Gordon Company also on board as executive producers. (Deadline.com)
HAVES AND THE HAVE NOTS, THE (OWN) - John Schneider ("Smallville") is the first to be cast in Tyler Perry's upcoming drama, about the dynamics of the affluent Cryer family and the impoverished family of Hanna, their housekeeper, and the obstacles and secrets that exist within both families. He'll play Jim Cryer, the Cryer family patriarch. The one-hour series launches Wednesday, May 29 on the cable channel. (Deadline.com)
LOVE THY NEIGHBOR (OWN) - Jonathan Chase, Palmer Williams, Patrice Lovely, Kendra C. Johnson, Andre Hall and Darmirra Brunson have all been cast in the upcoming series, a half-hour comedy set at Love's Diner, where every day the menu serves up good food, great laughs, valuable life lessons and a whole lot of love for its zany neighbors. Lovely will play Hattie, the diner's owner, with Johnson and Hall as her daughter Linda and grandson Danny, respectively. Rounding out the cast are Chase as Danny's co-worker/best friend Sam; Brunson as Amber, Sam's neighbor; and Williams as Floyd. Tyler Perry Studios is behind the project, which launches Wednesday, May 29. (Deadline.com)
MURDER IN MANHATTAN (A.K.A. PARK & LEX) (ABC) - The Maria Maggenti-penned hour - about a mother and daughter who team up as amateur sleuths in New York City - is the latest to receive a pilot commitment at the Alphabet. DarkFire Television's Ryan Reynolds, Allan Loeb, Jonathon Komack Martin and Steven Pearl also serve as executive producers on the project, which is set up at ABC Studios. (Deadline.com)
RECKLESS (A.K.A. COUP) (ABC) - Chris Black's drama - about "a resourceful problem solver who, when his wife is unjustly imprisoned during a political uprising overseas, resorts to entering a world of political intrigue, dangerous alliances and high emotional stakes in order to get her out" - has been given a pilot order by the Alphabet. ABC Studios is behind the hour with Martin Campbell executive producing alongside Black. (Deadline.com)
WONDERLAND (NBC) - The Anthony E. Zuiker-produced drama - a sequel to Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" centering on a new character, Clara, who must wage war against Wonderland's reigning Queen, the woman we once knew as Alice - has scored a pilot commitment at the Peacock. Whit Anderson penned the hour, which is now set up at Universal Television after originally being shepherded by ABC Studios. Dare to Pass's Matt Weinberg as well as JoAnn Alfano and Margaret Riley of Brillstein Entertainment Partners are executive producing alongside Zuiker and Anderson. (Deadline.com)
BAD MANAGEMENT (ABC, New!) - Sharon Horgan is set to topline a new single-camera comedy at the Alphabet about "a slightly self-centered female boss (Horgan) at a high-end luxury goods department store who finds her ways challenged when the boss' son comes to town and makes youth and sex the new company focus." ABC Studios is behind the half-hour, which has a pilot commitment. Horgan and Holly Walsh co-wrote the script and will executive produce alongside Kapital Entertainment's Aaron Kaplan for ABC Studios. (Deadline.com)
CRAZY GENE (ABC) - Andrea Abbate's single-camera comedy - about "the clean-nosed black sheep in a family of petty thieves, drug addicts and narcissists who decides to raise her prison-bound brother's kids along with her adopted black son and give them the normal lives they deserve" - has been ordered to pilot by the Alphabet. 20th Century Fox Television-based 21 Laps-Adelstein Productions is behind the half-hour with Marty Adelstein, Shawn Levy and Becky Clements executive producing alongside Abbate. (Deadline.com)
DRACULA (NBC) - Katie McGrath and Nonso Anozie have both boarded the upcoming drama, which stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the title role, who poses as Alan Grayson, an American entrepreneur who maintains that he wants to bring modern science to Victorian society but in reality hopes to wreak revenge on the people who ruined his life centuries earlier. The former will play Lucy Westenra, "London's sexy, social butterfly and Mina's best friend who has a penchant for gossip, flirting and all things glamorous"; while Anozie is set as R.M. Renfield, Alan's fiercely loyal confidante. Jessica de Gouw also stars in the hour, from Carnival Films & Television, Flame Ventures, Playground and Universal Television. (Deadline.com)
GANG RELATED (FOX, New!) - Chris Morgan has scored a pilot order from the network for a new drama about "a gang member who is sent in to infiltrate the San Francisco Police Department and rises through its ranks but must balance his obligations to his crime family with an increasing sense of loyalty to his new 'family.'" Said effort is set up at the 20th Century Fox Television-based Imagine Television with Brian Grazer, Francie Calfo and showrunner Scott Rosenbaum likewise serving as executive producers. (Deadline.com)
MIDDLE AGE RAGE (ABC) - The Cheryl Holliday-penned comedy - about "what happens when a middle-aged wife and mother is fed up with feeling invisible and begins to speak up and demand the respect she feels she's earned" - has received a pilot order from the Alphabet. Amblin Television's Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey also serve as executive producers on the single-camera project, which is set up at ABC Studios. (Deadline.com)
SILICON VALLEY (HBO) - T.J. Miller ("The Goodwin Games") and Thomas Middleditch (NBC's "The Farm") are the first to be cast in the comedy pilot, "set in the high tech gold rush of modern Silicon Valley, where the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success." Miller will play Erlich, the owner of the Hacker House. whose "intelligence is sometimes eclipsed by his imperious self-satisfaction"; with Middleditch as Thomas, "who is focused, idealistic, and brilliant when writing code for software, and awkward and none too confident when dealing with life." Mike Judge, John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky are all behind the single-camera project, with Judge directing. (Deadline.com)
TRUE DETECTIVE (HBO) - Lili Simmons, Jay O. Sanders and Brad Carter have all been cast in the upcoming drama, about a pair of cops - played by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson - whose lives intersect during a 17-year serial killer investigation in Louisiana. Simmons will play "an underage prostitute who was friends with one of the victims" with Sanders as "a televangelist with an enormous reach in the state of Louisiana" and Carter as "the ex-husband of a victim who is currently in prison and may have a connection to the murder." Writer Nic Pizzolatto and director Cary Fukunaga are behind the eight-episode project. (Variety.com)
UNTITLED 50 CENT PROJECT (FOX, New!) - Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson is developing a semi-autobiographical animated comedy at the network about "a mischievous but well-meaning boy who often tangles with his eccentric family and neighborhood." Carl Jones is penning the half-hour, which is expected to receive a pilot or presentation order. Jackson, Jones, Cheetah Vision's Randall Emmett, Andrew Jameson and Imagine Television's Brian Grazer and Francie Calfo then will executive produce for presumably 20th Century Fox Television. (Deadline.com)
WILD BLUE (A.K.A. THE BRIDGE) (FOX) - Taylor Elmore's drama - a "young ensemble about the working men and women on board an aircraft carrier equipped with a 500-foot landing strip, a nuclear reactor and 6000 souls on board" - has likewise scored a green light from the network to produce a pilot. Sony Pictures Television is behind the hour with Graham Yost, Mark Johnson and director Michael Dinner executive producing and Elmore and Melissa Bernstain serving as co-executive producers. (Deadline.com)
