With ABC, CBS, Fox and the CW holding their upfront presentations during the week of May 18 — and NBC set to reveal the rest of its own 2009-10 plan on May 19 — the pilots for a slew of prospective series are getting their final looks.
Among the surprising let-downs? NBC took a pass on David E. Kelley's Legally Mad — and owes Warner Bros. TV a seven-figure penalty payment for doing so. It also turned down Dick Wolf's Lost & Found, a cop drama starring Katee Sackhoff.
Though there has been talk in the trades that NBC might avoid the Legally Mad penalty by instead granting Warner Bros.' Chuck a pick-up, the action-comedy's creator ...
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After 19 years, how do you keep a TV show fresh? For Dick Wolf, executive producer of Law & Order (Wednesday, Nov. 5. 10 pm/ET, NBC), the season starts with a fortuitously, albeit coincidentally timed episode about a stockbroker who gets beaten to death. The circumstances surrounding the murder - street-fighting, a YouTube surrogate, a Gangs of New York reference - thrust DA Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) and Executive ADA Michael Cutter (Linus Roache) into a heated stand-off about, among other things, the definition of the word terrorism, believe it or not. Read on to find about the ever-more-youthful cast, which series vets might return to the show, and why it's always a good idea to hire obsessive-compulsives.
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Battlestar Galactica's feisty and beloved Starbuck, played by Katee Sackhoff, will now be Lost and Found on NBC.Sackhoff has snagged the lead role in the new Dick Wolf-produced pilot, which was created by L&O scribe Chris Levinson, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The hour-long drama centers on offbeat LAPD detective Tessa (Sackhoff), who, after butting heads with her bosses, is sent — Fox Mulder-style — to the basement to work on John/Jane Doe cases.After playing the tragically flawed Starbuck for four seasons on Sci Fi's Battlestar, "offbeat" will probably be a breath of fresh air for Sackhoff. Are you excited to see Sackhoff in a down-to-Earth role? — Erin FoxRelated• Sackhoff on BSG Finale• BSG Movie Casting News• Catch Up on Episodes of Battlestar Galactica
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A new pilot from Law & Order guru Dick Wolf is in the works for NBC, featuring "an unconventional female detective" who solves the murders of anonymous victims, according to Variety .Lost and Found will be written by Law & Order alum Chris Levinson, and pick up is contingent upon who they cast to headline the show.Sound familiar? I thought so, too. The first thing that comes to mind when the words, "unconventional female detective," are pitched is the plethora of successful shows already containing that dynamic. The Closer has quirky southerner Brenda Leigh Johnson, Cold Case has flashbacking Lilly Rush, and Saving Grace has self-destructive, angel-talking Grace Hanadarko. How do you think Dick Wolf and Co. can distinguish this show from so many others already on our radar? — Erin FoxRelated• Dick Wolf Seeks Profit Justice• Use Our Online Video Guide to Watch More Law & Order
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Dick Wolf and NBC Universal have had an extremely successful marriage of the minds and pocketbooks over the 19-years of the multiple Law & Order series' runs. However, now the two powerhouses are locking horns over profits from the procedural mega-hits. According to the Wall Street Journal, Wolf's friends and employees say he "believes he has been systematically cheated by NBC." Apparently, Wolf thinks the company "sold the show at a cheap in-house price to its own cable outlets rather than getting the best deal possible by letting other networks bid on it." Wolf's not the only one in Hollywood to cry foul regarding show profits — David Duchovny also filed a lawsuit in 1999 alleging Fox had cheated him out of syndication profits from the long-running X-Files series — and went on to win a rumored $20 million.The Wolf-NBC negotiations, which were held behind closed doors, fell in favor of the network. But, that was just one of the issues on the table. Wolf is also upset...
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