ABC rounded out its pilot slate Friday, ordering six dramas and a comedy for consideration for the 2018-19 broadcast season.
Among those getting the pilot calls were Scott Foley, who inches closer to staying in business at the network after Scandal wraps; Greg Berlanti, who landed a comedy order; and Marcia Clark, among others.
Here’s a look at Friday’s pickups:
Whiskey Cavalier is an hourlong action-drama produced by and starring Scandal star Foley. Dave Hemingson (Shondaland’s The Catch) penned the script and executive produces alongside Warner Bros. Television-based Doozer Productions’ Bill Lawrence and Jeff Ingold. (This is Doozer’s second pilot order of the season, joining The CW’s Dead Inside.) Whiskey Cavalier is described as a high-octane action dramedy that follows the adventures of tough but tender FBI super-agent Will Chase (codename Whiskey Cavalier) who, following an emotional breakup, is assigned to work with badass CIA operative Francesca “Frankie” Trowbridge (codename Fiery Tribune). Together, they lead an interagency team of flawed, funny, heroic spies who periodically save the world (and each other) while navigating the rocky roads of friendship, romance and office politics.
Related Stories
The Fix is written by Clark, Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain (The Family, 666 Park Avenue) and centers on former prosecutor Maya Travis, who has left Los Angeles for a quiet life in rural Oregon after losing the biggest case of her career and being shredded by the media. Eight years after her devastating defeat, the murderer strikes again, forcing Maya to return to L.A. to confront him one more time. Will she play by the rules, or will she do whatever it takes to get him behind bars? Part legal thriller, part confessional, part revenge fantasy. Always riveting. Craft, Fain and Clark exec produce the ABC Studios drama alongside Mandeville’s David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Laurie Zaks.
The untitled Holmes sisters drama is from CSI alum Pam Veasey, who penned the script and exec produces alongside Robin Roberts and Regina King. The ABC Studios-produced project explores the lives of five African-American sisters, all officers in the NYPD, as they face the challenges of their high-risk jobs while juggling the responsibilities of marriage, motherhood and family.
Safe Harbor is written by Detroit 1-8-7′s Jason Richman and chronicles the colorful, complicated lives of cops on and off the beat as we follow them into harrowing, emotional, and often humorous situations. Mandeville’s Hoberman, Lieberman and Zaks produce via their ABC Studios-based company.
Staties follows a hard-charging NYPD detective, Eliza Cortez, who is banished to the boonies after a high-profile mistake and is paired with a new partner, Oregon State Trooper Sam King. Sam’s investigative techniques don’t exactly follow protocol, as evidenced by his talking to trees for clues and his obsession with flying kites. Eliza is a fish-out-of-water in this police procedural set in an eccentric town of quirky characters in coastal Oregon. Code Black’s Corey Evett and Matt Partney exec produce alongside Michael Seitzman and Christina Davis.
A Million Little Things is produced by Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment. The project hails from DJ Nash (Up All Night) and is a dramedy about a group of friends who, for different reasons and in different ways, are all stuck in their lives, but when one of them dies unexpectedly, it’s just the wake-up call the others need to finally start living. Kapital’s Dana Honor also exec produces.
Rounding out the orders is Most Likely To, a comedy written by Diablo Cody (Juno) and exec produced by Berlanti. The multicamera effort revolves around Liz Cooney, who in high school had everything, while Markie McQueen had nothing. Twenty years later, they’re reunited under the same roof as single moms and unlikely housemates. Cody exec produces the Warner Bros. Television project alongside Berlanti Productions’ Sarah Schechter. This is prolific producer Berlanti’s second pilot order of the season and first comedy. It joins CBS drama God Friended Me.
All told, ABC now has 16 pilots in the works for next season — 12 dramas (off one from last year) and four comedies (down from 11).
Keep up with all the latest pilot orders, castings and eventual series pickups with THR‘s handy guide.
