Our Big, Fat List of Pilots
More than 125 projects vie for prime time glory
By Paige Albiniak -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/3/2004
Hawaii is popular this year. With upfront presentations just two weeks away and the broadcast networks racing to the finish line on pilot season, perhaps this year's focus on a sunny, sexy island suggests where all those cooped-up network executives would rather be.
But there are other themes as well: Bounty hunters, wedding planners, private investigators, and young, hot singles who give up their lifestyle to raise the offspring of dead relatives appear frequently on the development slate.
Journalists are in. Both pop diva Jessica Simpson and TV regular Jennifer Love Hewitt are playing reporters, and three well-known columnists (The Washington Post's Tony Kornheiser, Time's and Entertainment Weekly's Joel Stein, and The New York Times' Amanda Hesser) are seeing their lives converted into TV shows. Maybe.
Crime still pays on TV. All the networks are investing heavily in the genre and its varying twists, with medical mysteries, FBI agents masquerading as high school kids, and parent/kid PI teams.
The goal of all this, of course, is a whopping big hit. After all the pilot-testing and focus-grouping, frantic casting and upfront-pitching, it will soon be up to the viewers. Here's what the broadcast-network programmers are considering.
| Show | Production Company | Cast | Logline |
| ABC | |||
| Blind Justice | Paramount/Steven Bochco | Ron Eldard, Marisol Nichols, Rena Sofer | Blind detective and young woman struggle to succeed |
| The Catch (midseason) | Touchstone | Greg Grunberg, Orlando Jones | Bounty hunters |
| Countdown | Touchstone | Jason O'Mara, Salli Richardson | SWAT teams rush in during the last 43 minutes of a crisis |
| The De Marco Affairs | 20th Century Fox TV/David E. Kelley | Selma Blair, Sabrina Lloyd, Lindsay Sloane, | Three sisters inherit their parents' wedding-planning business |
| Desperate Housewives | Touchstone | Teri Hatcher, Eva Longoria, Felicity Huffman | Stepford Wives meets Knot's Landing |
| Doing It | Touchstone | Sean Faris, Chris Lowell, Kelly Osbourne | Look at life from point of view of teen boys |
| Empire (midseason; 8 episode order) | Touchstone | Jonathan Cake, Santiago Cabrera, Emily Blunt | Julius Caesar's teen nephew flees home, with a gladiator helper |
| Eyes | Warner Bros. | Tim Daly, Reg Rogers, Laura Leighton | 21st century PIs |
| Gramercy Park | Warner Bros./Tannenbaum Co. | Paul Blackthorne, Izabella Miko, Milo Ventimiglia | Families and their nannies in a New York apartment building |
| Gray's Anatomy | Touchstone | Patrick Dempsey, Sandra Oh | Young, single female leads a staff of surgical residents |
| Harry Green and Eugene | Paramount | Mark Valley, Jason Segal, Jamie King | Cop opens L.A. detective agency with doofus brother, sexy associate |
| Kat Plus One | Warner Bros. | Scott Wolf, Jake Cherry, Wendie Malick | Junior publicist must raise her sister's kid |
| Lost (2-hour pilot) | Touchstone | Dominic Monaghan, Matthew Fox | Modern-day Gilligan's Island |
| Untitled David E. Kelley (series order) | 20th Century Fox TV/David E. Kelley | James Spader, William Shatner | Some Practice stars move to high-priced civil-law firm |
| The Service | Touchstone | Sarah Wayne Callies, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Mykelti Williamson | Focuses on a young woman who works in the Secret Service |
| CBS | |||
| Show | Production Company | Cast | Logline |
| The Bounty Hunters | Spelling | Robert Forster, Lauren Holly | Father, two sons are bounty hunters |
| Clubhouse | Spelling/Icon | Jeremy Sumpter, Mare Winningham, Dean Cain, Christopher Lloyd | Batboy comes of age |
| Sudbury (working title, presentation) | Warner Bros./CBS/DiNovi Pic./Fortis Films | Kim Delaney, Jeri Ryan, Esai Morales | Two sisters who are witches |
| Cooking Lessons (working title) | Warner Bros./The Tannenbaum Co. | Lisa Lackey, Paula Marshall, Constance Zimmer, Gil Bellows | The life and loves of a food columnist |
| CSI: NY | CBS/Alliance Atlantis/Bruckheimer | Gary Sinise, Melina Kanakaredes | Spinoff set in NYC |
| Dr. Vegas | Warner Bros./CBS/Bender Brown | Rob Lowe, Joe Pantoliano | Unconventional Las Vegas doctor |
| Numbers | Paramount/Scott Free | David Krumholtz, Gabriel Macht, Peter MacNichol, Michael Rooker | Math wiz recruited to solve crimes for the FBI |
| Wanted | Warner Bros./25C Prods./CBS | Scott Glenn, Yancey Arias | LAPD hunts fugitives |
| The Webster Report | Warner Bros./25C Prods./CBS | Stanley Tucci, Bobby Cannavale, Ben Gazzara | Offbeat private investigator |
| Fox | |||
| The Deerings | 20th Century Fox | D. W. Moffett, Noelle Beck | Modern-day Brady Bunch by director of Cheaper by the Dozen |
| Hollywood Division | Universal | Nathan Fillion, D. J. Cotrona | Detectives investigate Hollywood crimes |
| House (working title) | Universal | Hugh Laurie, Lisa Edelstein, Robert Sean Leonard, Omar Epps | CSI: Hospital—Grumpy doctor solves medical mysteries |
| The Inside (working title) | 20th Century Fox/Imagine | Rachel Nichols, Peter Facinelli, Willa Holland | FBI agent works inside high school to bust drug ring |
| Jonny Zero (working title) | Warner Bros./John Wells | Franky G, GQ, Brennan Hesser | Ex-con trying to go legit by infiltrating former crime circles |
| The Jury (summer series) | 20th Century Fox | Billy Burke, Shalom Harlow | Criminal cases from the jury's point of view |
| The North Shore (summer series) | 20th Century Fox | Kristoffer Polaha, Navi Rawat, Rob Estes | Dramatic relationships of staff at luxury Hawaiian hotel |
| Point Pleasant | 20th Century Fox | Elisabeth Harnois, Sam Page | Shipwrecked woman with a secret stirs up beach town |
| Ricochet | Touchstone | Josh Hopkins, Johnny Messner | Police procedural that starts at the end and moves backwards |
| NBC | |||
| Show | Production Company | Cast | Logline |
| Hawaii | NBC Studios | Ivan Sergei, Eric Balfour, Sharif Atkins | Police in Hawaii. Book 'em Danno! |
| HUB | NBC Studios | Heather Locklear, Blair Underwood | Behind-the-scenes at a large airport |
| Law & Order 4: Trial by Jury | Wolf Films/Universal | No casting yet | Third Law & Order spinoff |
| Untitled Medical Mystery | NBC Studios/Paramount/Landscape | Neal McDonough, Kelli Williams | Medical-mystery procedural |
| Medium | Paramount/Grammnet /Picturemaker. | Patricia Arquette, Miguel Sandoval | Suburban mom uses her powers for good |
| Revelations | Pariah | Bill Pullman, Natascha McElhone, John Rhys-Davies | Group tries to prevent the apocalypse |
| UPN | |||
| Show | Production Company | Cast | Logline |
| 2 Kings | Blueprint Ent./Edmonds Ent. | Unknown | Two NYC high schoolers find common ground in '70s |
| Beck and Call (presentation) | Warner Bros./Various partners | Christina Vidal, Vanessa Williams, Adam Kaufman, | Three young assistants and their bosses |
| Kevin Hill | Touchstone/Icon | Taye Diggs, Jon Seda, Michael Michel | Young single attorney raises his cousin's infant daughter |
| Mystery Girl (presentation) | 20th Century Fox | Alex Breckenridge, Grant Show, Eric Paladino | Mystery-solving magazine writer |
| Nikki & Nora | Warner Bros./Green-Epstein-Bacino Prods | Liz Vassey, Christina Cox, Shemar Moore | Two lesbian PIs in New Orleans |
| Silver Lake (presentation) | Spelling | Kerr Smith, Sandra Bernhard | L.A. record-store owner who talks to dead people |
| Veronica Mars | Warner Bros./Silver Pictures/Stu Segall | Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni | Teenage girl and her father solve crimes |
| The WB | |||
| Show | Production Company | Cast | Logline |
| Dark Shadows | Warner Bros./ John Wells | Marley Shelton, Martin Donovan, Alexander Gould | Remake of the original |
| Global Frequency (midseason) | Warner Bros./Cloudbreak/Mark Burnett | No casting yet | Top-secret agency recruits regular people to help save the world |
| Jack & Bobby | Warner Bros./Various partners | Christine Lahti, Logan Lerman, Matthew Long, Edwin Hodges | Single mom raises a future U.S. president. |
| The Robinsons: Lost in Space | 20th Century Fox/Regency/Lion Rock | Gil McKinney, Adrianne Palicki, Brad Johnson | All-American family takes wrong turn on way to colonize new planet |
| Prodigy | Warner Bros./Silver Pictures | Kate Mara, Cody Arens | 10-year-old genius and his sister |
| Rocky Point (midseason) | Warner Bros. | Billy Campbell | 19-year-old moves to Hawaii, takes in estranged dad |
| The Mountain | Warner Bros./Wonderland Sound and Vision | Oliver Hudson, Tommy Dewey, Barbara Hershey | Prodigal son inherits the family ski resort and comes home to run it |
| Summerland (summer series) | Spelling | Lori Loughlin, Jesse McCartney, Merrin Dungey | Young, single S.F. attorney gets custody of her sister's three children |
| Show | Production Company | Cast | Logline |
| ABC | |||
| Earthquake | Touchstone/Tollin-Robbins | Earthquake, Holly Robinson Peete, Charles Duckworth | Comedian Earthquake and his wife struggle to make ends meet |
| Educating Lewis | Paramount | Lewis Black, Anne Dudek, Brad Raider | Unprepared principal runs a high school |
| The Furst Family | Touchstone/Granada | Marissa Jaret Winokur, French Stewart, Laurie Metcalf | British import about a blue-collar family (with Brenda Vaccaro too!) |
| Hot Mom | Warner Bros. | Gina Gershon, Nick Lachey | Hip wedding-planner mom and her conservative 15-year-old daughter |
| I Married Sofia | Touchstone | Sofia Vergara, Joe Lawrence | Immigrant Colombian actress marries American to stay in the country |
| Plan B | Universal | Caroline Rhea, Rocky Carroll, Willie Garson | Stressed single woman deals with family, fat, and romance |
| Savages | Universal/Icon | Keith Carradine, Jason Dolley, Erik Von Detton | Based on Mel Gibson's experience raising 5 sons; he's exec. producer |
| Untitled Rodney Carrington Proj. | Touchstone | Rodney Carrington, Jennifer Aspen | Family show based on Carrington's comedy |
| Untitled Jennifer Love Hewitt Proj. | Touchstone | Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ed O'Neill, Josie Davis | Hewitt plays TV sports reporter and single mom |
| Untitled Jessica Simpson Proj. | Touchstone/Ted Harbert | Jessica Simpson, Gregory Harrison | TV newsmag flips out when pop star "Jessica Sampson" joins staff |
| Untitled Staley & Long Proj. | Touchstone | Missi Pyle, Tom Everett Scott, William Devane, Annie Potts | Man and his dad father babies at the same time |
| Untitled John Stamos Proj. | Brad Grey Television/20th Century Fox | John Stamos, Madchen Amick | Takes place over an entire first date |
| News To Me (working title) | Warner Bros./ACME Prods. | Colin Hanks, Sharon Lawrence, David Hasselhoff | Based on Joel Stein's life as Time magazine's youngest reporter ever |
| Thank God It's Monday | Touchstone | Ed Kerr, Ever Carradine, Bill Bellamy | How men talk about home when they get to work |
| CBS | |||
| Show | Production Company | Cast | Logline |
| Aisha | Warner Bros./Is or Isn't Ent. | Aisha Tyler, Adam Goldberg, Richard Kind | Single woman hassled when big biz buys her East Village boutique |
| Untitled Jason Alexander Proj. | Regency/CBS Prods. | Jason Alexander, Malcolm-Jamal Warner | Based on life of Washington Post columnist Tony Kornheiser |
| Untitled Sherick and Ronn Proj. | Sony Pictures TV/CBS s. | Chris O'Donnell, Jay Harrington, Monica Potter | Brothers grew up thinking they were special; find out they aren't |
| Center of the Universe | Warner Bros./CBS./Various partners | John Goodman, Jean Smart, Olympia Dukakis, Diedrich Bader | Chicago family man tries to keep extended family clan happy |
| Untitled Andrew Kennedy Proj. | Sony Pictures/CBS Prods. | Andrew Kennedy, Christa Miller, John Ratzenberger, Julia Duffy | Young couple deals with both sets of parents |
| Saint Louie | Warner Bros./Mohawk Prods. | Louis C.K., Cynthia Watros, Evan Handler | NYC couple make raising their 2-year-old harder than it has to be |
| Untitled Staley & Long Proj. | Paramount | Ricki Lake, Kirstie Alley | Young widow, her mom raise widow's kids while running mom's bar |
| Taste | Regency TV/CBS Prods. | Jane Krakowski, Richard Ruccolo | Culinary-school grad gets a top restaurant job |
| Vinyl Café | Paramount/Where's Lunch Prods. | Saul Rubinek, Wendel Meldrum, Hannah Reid Rubinek, | Animated show from Everybody Loves Raymond executive producer |
| Fox | |||
| Show | Production Company | Cast | Logline |
| American Dad (midseason) | 20th Century Fox | Seth McFarlane, Wendy Schaal | Animated family comedy includes a space alien and a mutant fish |
| Blue Aloha (midseason) | Carsey-Werner-Mandabach | No casting yet | Animated, about a family in Hawaii |
| The Boondocks (midseason) | Sony Pictures Television | Indigo, Regina King | Animated comedy based on the comic strip |
| Family Dinner (working title) | Wass-Stein/Touchstone | Jonathan Katz, Lisa Kudrow | Lovable, self-deluded Uncle Ira moves in with his niece and her family |
| The Kelsey Grammer Sketch Show | Grammnet Prods./Avalon Television | Kelsey Grammer, Kaitlin Olson, Mary Lyn Rajskub | Sketch show imported from the U.K. |
| Lucky Us | Original Television/20th Century Fox | Chyler Leigh, Ethan Embry, Jill Ritchie | Diametrically opposed couple go on a blind date, conceive a child |
| Method & Red (summer series) | Regency Television/20th Century Fox | Method Man, Redman | Rappers move to posh N.J. suburb, to the chagrin of their neighbors |
| Mr. Ed | Original Television, 20th Century Fox | Sherman Hemsley, Sherilyn Fenn | Remake of the original |
| The Perez Family (working title) | Carsey Werner Mandabach/Martin Stein | Cast contingent | Cuban teen growing up in Miami |
| The Phil Hendrie Show | 20th Century Fox | Phil Hendrie, Amy Yasbeck, Sarah Silverman | Animated show about newly-wed radio talk host who moves to 'burbs |
| Quintuplets (summer series) | 20th Century Fox/Imagine | Andy Richter, Rebecca Creskoff | Parents struggle to raise five teenagers |
| Related by Family | Paramount | Zachary Knighton, Saige Thompson, Amy Yasbeck | Blended family comedy |
| The Robinson Brothers | 20th Century Fox/Original Television | Dave Annable, Jay Baruchel | Very different brothers try to get along |
| Untitled Chris Rock (midseason) | 20th Century Fox/3 Arts | No casting yet | Loosely based on Rock's life |
| Sorry Charlie (working title) | Sony Pictures/Jersey Television | Stephen Roots | Parents face oncoming empty-nest syndrome |
| Spellbound (midseason) | Warner Bros. | No casting yet | Family of witches in New York City |
| Sweden, OH (working title/midseason) | Warner Bros. | Helena Mattsson | Hot Swedish exchange student moves in wth blended family |
| NBC | |||
| Show | Production Company | Cast | Logline |
| Beverly Hills S.U.V. | NBC Studios | Jeffrey Nording, Henry Winkler | Salespeople at an upscale Beverly Hills car dealership |
| D.O.T.S. | Pariah | Steve Hytner, Stephen Dunham | Exploring the world of meter maids |
| Everyday Life | Universal | Rob Reiner, Mercedes Ruehl, Josh Radnor, Mary Gallagher | Part scripted/part improv about a family of psychiatrists |
| Father of the Pride | DreamWorks TV | John Goodman, Cheryl Hines, Carl Reiner, Orlando Jones | Computer-animated show about lions in Siegfried & Roy's show |
| Foster Hall | NBC /Conaco/E. Gerson Saines Prods. | Macaulay Culkin, Busy Phillipps, Greg Germann | Brother and sister reunite after life in several foster homes |
| The Friendlys | NBC Studios | Ana Gasteyer, Julie Bowen, Dave Foley | Mogul's daughter fights dad's ex-wife for control of his candy factory |
| Untitled Heline/Heisler Proj. | NBC Studios | Josh Cooke, Jennifer Finnigan | Lovers struggle with their relationship |
| Joey | Warner Bros. | Matt LeBlanc, Drea de Matteo, | Friends spinoff |
| The MacGregors | Warner Bros. | Mitch Rouse, Tom Conti, Shelley Long | Relationship between a son and his newly-divorced father |
| The Men's Room | NBC Studios | Scott Cohen, John Cho, Eric Lively | Three guys, at different life stages, living in Manhattan Beach, Calif. |
| My 11:30 | NBC Studios/Nuance | Jeff Goldblum | New York businessman's regular appointment with his shrink |
| Nevermind Nirvana | NBC Studios/Untitled Burke-Tarses Project | Kal Penn, Judy Greer | Indian-American has to integrate his Caucasian fiancée into his family |
| The Office | Reveille/Universal | Steve Carell | NBC version of the British import |
| Untitled Tarses/Wrubel Proj. | NBC Studios/Untitled Burke-Tarses Project | Alyson Hannigan, Michael Landes | Girl's life in turmoil when her slacker brother reappears |
| Weekends | NBC Studios/Spyglass Entertainment | Eddie Kaye Thomas, Caitlin Mowrey | Young Orange County family |
| UPN | |||
| Show | Production Company | Cast | Logline |
| The Bad Girl's Guide (presentation) | Paramount/Flame Entertainment | Jenny McCarthy | Based on Cameron Tuttle's book |
| Humor Me (presentation) | Sony Pictures TV | Dane Cook | Young standup comic's loses it all and has to start over |
| Me, Me, Me (presentation) | 20th Century Fox | Tori Spelling | Social climbers in Manhattan |
| Second Time Around (presentation) | Paramount/C to the B Prods. | Boris Kodjoe, Nicole Ari Parker | Divorced couple decides to try again |
| Andrew Secunda Proj. (presentation) | Paramount/Littlefield./Nervous Properties | Charisma Carpenter, Tyler Labine | Uptight career woman and her fun-loving brother |
| Untitled Soluna Proj. | DePasse/Grammnet/Paraountt | Jessica Castellanos, Christina Lopez, America Olivo | Comedic look at the lives and careers of a Latina singing group |
| Cuts (working title) | Paramount/Greenblatt-Janollari Studio | Marques Houston, Shannon Elizabeth | Spinoff of One on One. It's a back-door pilot |
| The WB | |||
| Show | Production Company | Cast | Logline |
| Blue Collar Comedy | Riverside./Warner Bros./Bahr-Smal | Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, Larry the Cable Guy | Sketch comedy show based on group's Blue Collar Comedy Tour |
| Commando Nanny | Warner Bros./Mark Burnett | Gerald McRaney, Philip Winchester | Ex-Special Forces commando becomes a Beverly Hills nanny |
| Dana & Julie | Sony Television/ Happy Madison | Dana Goodman, Julia Wolov | Based on stars' Chicago stage hit about wild girls in the big city |
| The Drew Carey Improv Proj. | Drew Carey | Drew Carey and friends | Improv on stage, but behind-the-scenes team has different version |
| Joint Custody | Warner Bros. | Kevin Wheatley, Kate Walsh | Kids growing up with divorced parents |
| Schimmel (working title/midseason) | Michigan J. Prods. | No casting yet | Robert Schimmel, daughter Jessica's comedy based on their life |
| Shacking Up | Regency Television/Wannabe | Ben Feldman, Fran Drescher | 25-year-old moves home, discovers mom is dating someone his age |
| Then Comes Marriage | 20th Century Fox/Brad Grey TV | No casting yet | Newlyweds have a hard time adjusting to their new lives |
