‘Zoobiquity’ Adaptation From ‘Bones’ Duo Nabs Fox Pilot Order

The third time is the charm for Zoobiquity at Fox.

The network has handed out a pilot order to the adaptation of the best-selling book by Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The drama is described as a light, unconventional medical procedural that follows the unlikely pairing of a successful, driven cardiologist as she risks career suicide by teaming with a socially challenged veterinarian who relates better to animals than people. They try to put aside their competitive natures to cure the incurable using a unique blend of cross-species medicine that’s never been tried before.

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Originally developed last season with Bones duo Jon Collier and Stephen Nathan attached, Fox redeveloped the drama a third time this season. Satisfaction creator Sean Jablonski, who penned the second take on the drama, is no longer attached. Collier and Nathan penned the new take and will exec produce the 20th Century Fox Television drama. Spencer Medof will exec produce; Natterson-Horowitz and Zoobiquity co-author Kathryn Bowers will produce.

Fox’s Zoobiquity comes days after CBS greenlit Jason Katims‘ similarly themed medical drama Bunker Hill, which follows a young Silicon Valley tech titan who enlists a veteran surgeon with a controversial past in starting a hospital with a cutting-edge, “new school” approach to medicine. 

Zoobiquity comes as Fox continues to place a premium on procedurals. This pilot season the network has ordered Recon, about an FBI agent embedded in a terrorist family; A.P.B., about a billionaire who buys a police precinct; new take 24: Legacy, Prison Break, Shots Fired as well as serialized entries The Exorcist, Pitch and its untitled Lee Daniels music drama.

The order comes as Fox is mulling the future of Bones as the veteran drama has become the subject of lawsuits with studio 20th TV over the series’ profits. Nathan stepped down as showrunner ahead of season 11, with Collier — who has been with the series since 2010 — taking on oversight of the series alongside Michael Peterson.

Keep up with all the latest pilot news with THR’s handy guide to pilot season.