There’s been quite a bit of buzz lately about proposed TV series in development, some receiving pilot orders, so it’s about time to do a roundup of all those that look like Our Kind of Shows. Try not to get too attached, though; we may not be seeing any of them. We won’t know for sure until a network announces that it has been picked up a series. In fact, that’s not even a sure thing any more; RIP Hieroglyph, which Fox has dropped after announcing it (and even releasing a trailer) as a 2015 series.
Bearing that in mind, here are all the latest potential Our Kind of Series:
Titans, a Teen Titans live action series: This series is nearing a pickup from TNT. Produced by Warner Bros. TV, home of all the DC-based series, like Gotham, Arrow, The Flash, and Constantine, it’s written by sci-fi stalwart Akiva Goldsman (Fringe). Deadline is reporting that the action series centers on Dick Grayson/Robin, “who emerges from the shadow of Batman to become Nightwing, the leader of a fearless band of new Super Heroes including Starfire, Raven and many others.”
[Quick side note: Ryan Penagos (@AgentM), Executive Editorial Director for Marvel Digital Media, and Adri Cowan (@AdriCowan), Marvel Social Media Manager, today confirmed that the correct spelling of Super Heroes is just that; two words, capitalized. We at SciFi Mafia will conform with this rule from now on, and are happy to share this bit of info with our readers, so that you will have yet another reason to feel superior to all non-readers, who likely spell the term incorrectly.]
Supergirl: Word is that Greg Berlanti, creator of Arrow and upcoming spinoff The Flash, is moving forward with a “new interpretation of the character and her story,” according to Deadline. It’s to be written by Ali Adler (No Ordinary Family, Chuck), and of course produced by Warner Bros. TV. It’s still in the early stages, but is expected to be shopped around to the networks in a couple of weeks, and may undergo a name change.
The Things We Left Behind: Switching from the Super Hero (see what I did there?) theme but sticking with Greg Berlanti, the prolific producer has received a “put pilot” commitment from CBS for a series based on Stephen King‘s short story, which will be a supernatural procedural about two investigators “carrying out the unfinished business of the dead.” As a reminder, the “put pilot” designation is good news; when a network makes a put pilot commitment, it is required to pay a substantial penalty (fee) if it decides to not air the pilot. Unfortunately, this is still no guarantee; CBS could decide to pay the penalty, or air the pilot as a one-off, as NBC did with the Munsters remake Mockingbird Lane. I choose, however, to remain hopeful, because it sounds great, especially because it’s reported by Deadline to be written by Seth Grahame-Smith, the author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
The Curse Of The Fuentes Women: Here’s another potential series in production at Warner Bros. TV, this time trying out some magical realism, as Silvio Horta, the creator of Ugly Betty, is developing a series about the power of memory and mythology in shaping our destinies. According to Deadline, the basis of the series goes like this: “When a young man washes up on Miami Beach claiming to be a long-lost family member from Cuba, he breathes new energy into the lives of grandmother Esperanza Fuentes, daughter Lola and granddaughter Soledad.” I love magical realism, so I have high hopes for this one, which has received a “script development with penalty” (if the script is not picked up to pilot or series) from NBC.
Minority Report: Rounding out this development report, we have a series that has received a “big” put pilot commitment from Fox, based on the Tom Cruise-starring movie of the same name. This time, though, it’s meant to be a sequel to the movie, and comes with some big names attached: Steven Spielberg‘s Amblin TV, and the writer of Godzilla, Max Borenstein. Deadline reports that it is set 10 years after the end of Precrime in DC. “One of the three Precogs struggles to lead a “normal” human life, but remains haunted by visions the future, when he meets a detective haunted by her past who just may help him find a purpose to his gift.” Let’s hope that Fox is a little more gentle with this futuristic detective story than it was with last year’s Almost Human.
Remember, we make no promises about any of these, but we can certainly hope, and we’ll definitely keep you posted.
