Idris Elba Luther Still - H 2014
BBCA version of this story first appeared in the Jan. 16 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.
With pilot season poised to begin, all eyes are on Fox.
The choices made in the next month or so will not only be an indication of what the upcoming season will look like, but also of where the new regime, led by Gary Newman and Dana Walden, would like to take the fourth-place network. The pair added the broadcast network to their expansive portfolio in late July, and turning it around is mission No. 1.
In a series of wide-ranging interviews for this week’s Hollywood Reporter cover story, the partners, along with their newly installed entertainment president David Madden, talked broadly about the programs — family comedies, genre dramas, House-style procedurals — and producer-centric ethos that they’d like to bring to the network. But what exactly that means will become clearer with time, and several series orders.
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Below are eight development projects generating internal heat as their first batch of pickups loom.
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COMEDY:
UNTITLED SCOTT SILVERI
A personal comedy from Friends‘ Silveri, which centers on a family that’s good at handling the challenges it faces — and excellent at creating new ones.
UNTITLED ROB RIGGLE
Based on the Austrian comedy titled Braunschlag, it follows the quirky inhabitants of a small, struggling town whose mayor (Riggle) is prepared to do anything to save his community.
FANTASY LIFE
An adaptation of ESPN analyst Matthew Berry‘s best-selling book by the same name, the comedy stars Kevin Connolly as a regular guy who lands his dream job working in the fantasy sports department at a major sports network.
UNTITLED JOHN STAMOS
A half-hour that follows a longtime bachelor (Stamos) whose life is upended when he discovers he’s a father and a grandfather.
Read more Five Takeaways from TV’s Development Season
DRAMA:
MINORITY REPORT
The futuristic Amblin drama is envisioned as a sequel to the 2002 Tom Cruise film. It’s set 10 years after the end of “precrime” in D.C., and has been fast-tracked at the network.
GLOBAL FREQUENCY
Jerry Bruckheimer‘s DC Comics adaptation will chronicle the workings of a privately funded crime-fighting operation that uses worldwide crowd-sourcing to solve cases that the police cannot.
LUCIFER
A second DC drama centers on Lucifer, who, bored and unhappy as the Lord of Hell, resigns his throne and abandons his kingdom for Los Angeles, where he opens an exclusive piano bar called Lux.
LUTHER
A U.S. rendition of the BBC detective drama, with series creator Neil Cross and original star Idris Elba on board as executive producers.
