TV Pilot Season 2020: TheWrap’s Complete Guide
It’s pilot season — when broadcast networks decide which of dozens of prospective shows should become full-fledged series.
TheWrap’s complete network pilot guide will keep you up to speed on the status of every project under consideration by ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC. In cases where they’ve already ordered a show to series, we’ll say so.
Check back often for regular updates.
The CW: Drama
Fox: Comedy / Drama
ABC COMEDY
PROSPECT
Writer(s): Sherry Bilsing-Graham, Ellen Kreamer
Director: Randall Einhorn
Studio: ABC Studios
Logline: A comedic western with a feminist twist: an idealistic young woman moves to the frontier to be a schoolteacher, but her ideals are quickly tested when she learns that her students are rowdy ranch hands, not children. (Single camera)
ABC DRAMA
THE BRIDES
Writer(s): Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Producer(s): Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter
Director: Maggie Kiley
Studio: ABC Studios, Warner Bros. Television, Berlanti Productions
Logline: A sexy contemporary reimagining of “Dracula,” is a family drama with a trio of powerful female leads at its heart. With strong horror elements, “The Brides” is a vampire soap about empowered, immortal women and the things they do to maintain wealth, prestige, legacy — and their nontraditional family.
HARLEM’S KITCHEN
Writer(s): Zahir McGhee
Producer(s): Marcus Samuelsson, David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman, Laurie Zaks
Studio: ABC Studios
Logline: An ensemble family drama set in a fine dining restaurant in Harlem. Ellis Rice, Executive Chef and patriarch, runs a successful restaurant with his wife and three daughters. But an unexpected death thrusts the family into turmoil and puts the restaurant’s future in jeopardy as long-buried secrets are revealed.
THIRTYSOMETHING(ELSE)
Writer(s): Marshall Herskovitz, Edward Zwick
Director: Edward Zwick
Studio: ABC Studios, MGM Television
Logline: A sequel to the groundbreaking series “thirtysomething,” which follows an ensemble of new faces playing the grown-up, 30-something children of the original cast. Apparently, raising children (even grown children) never ends, but who could have known how hard it would be for them to raise their parents?
Cast: Ken Olin, Mel Harris, Timothy Busfield, Patty Wettig
CBS COMEDY
THE UNITED STATES OF AL
Writer(s): David Goetsch, Maria Ferrari
Producer(s): Chuck Lorre, Reza Aslan, Mahyad Tousi
Studio: Warner Bros. Television, Chuck Lorre Productions
Logline: a comedy about the friendship between Riley, a Marine combat veteran struggling to readjust to civilian life in Ohio, and Awalmir (Al), the Afghan interpreter who served with his unit and has just arrived to start a new life in America. (Multi-camera)
CBS DRAMA
CLARICE — Series Commitment
Writer(s): Alex Kurtzman, Jenny Lumet
Producer(s): Heather Kadin, Aaron Baiers
Studio: MGM Television, CBS Television Studios, Secret Hideout.
Logline: It’s 1993, a year after the events of “The Silence of the Lambs.” CLARICE is a deep dive into the untold personal story of Clarice Starling as she returns to the field to pursue serial murderers and sexual predators while navigating the high stakes political world of Washington, D.C.
CW Drama
SUPERMAN & LOIS — Series Order
Writer(s): Todd Helbing
Producer(s): Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Geoff Johns
Studio: Berlanti Productions, Warner Bros. Television
Logline: Follows the world’s most famous Super Hero and comic books’ most famous journalist as they deal with all the stress, pressures and complexities that come with being working parents in today’s society. Based on the characters from DC created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Cast: Tyler Hoechlin, Elizabeth Tulloc
WALKER — Series Order
Writer(s): Anna Fricke
Producer(s): Dan Lin, Lindsay Liberatore, Jared Padalecki
Studio: CBS Television Studios, Rideback.
Logline: A reimagining of the long-running series “Walker, Texas Ranger.” Centers on Cordell Walker, a widower and father of two with his own moral code, who returns home to Austin after being undercover for two years, only to discover there’s harder work to be done at home. He’ll attempt to reconnect with his children, navigate clashes with his family, and find unexpected common ground with his new partner (one of the first women in Texas Rangers’ history), while growing increasingly suspicious about the circumstances surrounding his wife’s death.
Cast: Jared Padalecki
UNTITLED THE 100 PREQUEL — Backdoor Pilot Production Order
Writer(s): Jason Rothenberg
Producer(s): Leslie Morgenstein, Gina Girolamo
Studio: Alloy Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, CBS Television Studios
Logline: Set 97 years before the events of the original series, this project — which is currently being developed as a planted spinoff and will air as an episode of THE 100’s final season — starts with the end of the world, a nuclear apocalypse that wipes out most of the human population on Earth. The epic adventure follows a band of survivors on the ground as they learn to cope in a dangerous world while fighting to create a new and better society from the ashes of what came before.
UNTITLED ARROW SPINOFF — Backdoor Pilot Production Order
Writer(s): Beth Schwartz, Mark Guggenheim, Jill Blankenship, Oscar Balderrama
Producer(s): Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter
Studio: Warner Bros. TV, DC Entertainment
Logline: Spinoff following the women of Arrow.
Cast: Katherine McNamara, Katie Cassidy, Juliana Harkavy
FOX COMEDY
CARLA — Series Commitment
Writer(s): Darlene Hunt
Producer(s): Jim Parsons, Todd Spiewak, Angie Stephenson, Miranda Hart, Eric Norsoph, Mackenzie Gabriel-Vaught, Mayim Bialik
Studio: Warner Bros. Television, FOX Entertainment, That’s Wonderful Productions, Sad Clown Productions, BBC Studios
Logline: Carla is a 39-year-old woman who struggles every day against society and her mother to prove that you CANNOT have everything you want — and still be happy. Which is why she spent the money her parents set aside for her wedding to open a Cat Café in Louisville, KY. Based on the BBC UK original seriesMiranda, created by Miranda Hart. (Multi-camera)
Cast: Mayim Bialik
HOUSEBROKEN — Series Order
Writer(s): Clea DuVall, Jennifer Crittenden, Gabrielle Allan
Producer(s): Sharon Horgan, Clelia Mountford, Aaron Kaplan, Dana Honor
Studio: Fox Entertainment, Kapital Entertainment, Bento Box
Logline: Explores human dysfunction and neurosis through a group of neighborhood animals who live in the suburbs. (Animated)
Cast: Lisa Kudrow, Clea DuVall, Sharon Horgan, Nat Faxon, Will Forte, Tony Hale, Jason Mantzoukas, Sam Richardson, Bresha Webb, Greta Lee
NBC COMEDY
THE KENAN SHOW — Series Order
Writer(s): Jackie Clarke
Producer(s): Lorne Michaels, Andrew Singer
Director: Chris Rock
Studio: Universal Television, Broadway Video.
Logline: Kenan Thompson strives to be a super dad to his two adorable girls while simultaneously balancing his job and a father-in-law who “helps” in the most inappropriate ways. (Single camera)
Cast: Kenan Thompson, Punam Patel, Dani Lockett, Dannah Lockett, Andy Garcia.
NIGHT SCHOOL
Writer(s): Chris Moynihan
Producer(s): Kevin Hart, Will Packer, Malcolm Lee
Studio: Universal Television, Hartbeat Productions, Will Packer Productions, Bicycle Path Productions
Logline: An adaptation of the 2018 film, “Night School” centers on a unique mix of adults at a night school GED prep class who unexpectedly bond over their shared experience and find themselves helping each other both inside and outside of the classroom. (Multi-camera)
YOUNG ROCK — Series Order
Writer(s): Nahnatchka Khan, Jeff Chiang
Producer(s): Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia, Brian Gewirtz, Jennifer Carreras
Studio: Universal Television, Seven Bucks Productions, Fierce Baby Productions.
Logline: Inspired by the formative years of Dwayne Johnson. (Single camera)
Cast: Dwayne Johnson
UNTITLED TINA FEY/ROBERT CARLOCK — Series Order
Writer(s): Tina Fey, Robert Carlock
Producer(s): Jeff Richmond, David Miner, Eric Gurian
Studio: Universal Television, 3 Arts Entertainment, Little Stranger
Logline: A wealthy businessman runs for mayor of Los Angeles for all the wrong reasons. Once he wins he has to figure out what he stands for, gain the respect of his staff and connect with his teenage daughter, all while humanely controlling the coyote population. (Single camera)
Cast: Ted Danson, Holly Hunter, Bobby Moynihan
NBC DRAMA
AT THAT AGE
Writer(s): Carla Banks-Waddles
Producer(s): Malcolm D. Lee, Debra Martin Chase
Studio: Universal Television, Blackmaled Productions
Logline: An exploration of an African-American family’s legacy. After the Cooper family’s golden child suffers a catastrophic event, seven family members face a foundational shift, make life-altering decisions and deal with deep secrets coming to light.
DEBRIS
Writer(s): J.H. Wyman
Producer(s): Jason Hoffs
Studio: Legendary Television, Frequency Films
Logline: Two agents from two different continents, and two different mindsets, must work together to investigate when wreckage from a destroyed alien spacecraft has mysterious effects on humankind.
ECHO
Writer(s): JJ Bailey
Producer(s): John Davis, John Fox
Studio: Universal Television, Davis Entertainment
Logline: A high-concept, genre procedural revolving around a team of investigators who solve the highest-profile crimes by sending our heroes 36 hours into the past … in the body of the victim. They assume the victim’s identity and must race against time to prevent the crime before it happens.
LA BREA
Writer(s): David Appelbaum
Producer(s): Avi Nir, Alon Shtruzman, Peter Traugott, Rachel Kaplan, Ken Woodruff
Studio: Universal Television, Keshet Studios
Logline: When a massive sinkhole mysteriously opens in Los Angeles, it tears a family in half, separating mother and son from father and daughter. When part of the family find themselves in an unexplainable primeval world, alongside a disparate group of strangers, they must work to survive and uncover the mystery of where they are and if there is a way back home.
Related stories from TheWrap:
TV Execs Predict How Streaming Will Shake Out in 2020: 'It Will Be Like 'The Hangover"
Midseason TV 2020: Complete List of Premiere Dates for New and Returning Broadcast Shows
Steve Pond's Blog
