TV Pilots 2019: The Complete Guide

Following another prolonged development season, the broadcast networks are gearing up for a busy pilot season as they compete with not only one another, but also with basic and premium cable and streaming services new and old including Apple, WarnerMedia, Disney+, Netflix, Amazon and Hulu — all of which are making multibillion-dollar scripted pushes. As in the past few years, the networks continue to look to reboots, family fare and procedurals to help cut through the increasing clutter.


Here's a look at the pilots in contention for the 2019-2020 television season, as ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and The CW sift through hundreds of scripts and march forward in a bid to find the next breakout comedies and dramas.


* Denotes casting has been completed.


ABC Drama


New York Undercover
Logline: A reboot of the 1990s Fox procedural about detectives in New York's Fourth Precinct.
Cast:
Team: W/EP Ben Watkins (Amazon's Hand of God); EP Dick Wolf, Arthur Forney, Peter Jankowski
Studio: Universal TV, ABC Studios
Location:
NYPD Blue
Logline: follows Andy Sipowicz's (original star Dennis Franz) son, Theo, as he tries to earn his detective shield and work in the 15th squad while investigating his father's murder.
Cast: Alona Tal (Supernatural)
Team: W/EP Matt Olmstead, Nick Wootton; EP Jesse Bochco, Dayna Bochco; D Jesse Bochco
Studio: 20th Century Fox TV, ABC Studios
Location:


ABC Comedy


Bewitched
Logline: A reboot of the 1960s sitcom about Samantha, a hard-working black single mom who happens to be a witch, who marries Darren, a white mortal who happens to be a bit of a slacker. They struggle to navigate their differences as she discovers that even when a black girl is literally magic, she's still not as powerful as a decently tall white man with a full head of hair in America.
Cast:
Team: W/EP Kenya Barris, Yamara Taylor (Black-ish); John Davis, John Fox
Studio: ABC Studios, Sony Pictures TV, Khalabo Ink Society, Davis Entertainment
Format: Single-camera
Location:
Happy Accident
Logline: Revolves around two Pittsburgh families — a father with three adult daughters and a hotel lounge singer with her med student son — are forced together after a decades-old secret is revealed.
Cast:
Team: W/EP Jon Pollack, Abraham Higginbotham (Modern Family)
Studio: 20th Century Fox TV, ABC Studios
Format: Single-camera
Location:


CBS Drama


Surveillance
Logline: A spy thriller about around the head of communications for the NSA (Sophia Bush), a charming operative who finds her loyalties torn between protecting the government's secrets and her own.
Cast: Sophia Bush, Dennis Haysbert, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Matthew Modine, Allen Leech, Raphael Acloque
Team: W/co-EP David C. White (Sons of Liberty); EP Matt Reeves (The Passage); D/EP Patricia Riggen (Jack Ryan)
Studio: 20th Century Fox TV, CBS TV Studios, 6th & Idaho
Location:


CBS Comedy


Bob Hearts Abishola
Logline: Follows Bob (Mike and Molly grad Billy Gardell) who, after having a heart attack, falls in love with his Nigerian nurse (Folake Olowofoyeky, Transparent) and sets his sights on getting her to give him a chance.
Cast: Billy Gardell, Folake Olowofoyeky, Christine Ebersole, Maribeth Monroe, Shola Adewusi, Barry Shabaka Henley, Matt Jones
Team: W/EP Chuck Lorre, Eddie Gorodetsky (Mike and Molly), Al Higgins, Gina Yashere
Studio: Warner Bros. TV
Location:


Fox Drama


Filthy Rich
Logline: A Southern Gothic dramedy revolving around two strong, sharp women who will go to any length to protect their loved ones and get their due. When the wealthy CEO of the world's largest Christian network dies in a plane crash, his wife and adult children are stunned to discover he has grown, illegitimate kids who are also in his will. When the steel azalea matriarch of the family tries to pay them to go away, these newly legitimized heirs have very different ideas and insist on not only staying in town, but becoming part of the family empire.
Cast:
Team: W/D/EP Tate Taylor; EP Brian Grazer, Francie Calfo, John Norris
Studio: 20th Century Fox Television, Imagine Television
Location:


Fox Comedy


Bless the Harts — ANIMATED STRAIGHT-TO-SERIES ORDER
Logline: Follows a group of Southerners who are always broke as a joke and struggling for the American dream of status and wealth. What they don't realize is that they're already rich in friends, family and laughter.
Voice cast: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Jillian Bell, Ike Barinholtz
Team: W/EP Emily Spivey; EP Phil Lord, Chris Miller, Kristen Wiig, Seth Cohen, Aubrey Lee
Studio: 20th Century Fox TV, Lord & Miller Productions
Duncanville — ANIMATED STRAIGHT-TO-SERIES ORDER
Logline: Revolves around a 15-year-old boy named Duncan and his friends and family, including his mother, Annie, who is constantly trying to prevent her son from ruining his life.
Voice cast: Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, Wiz Khalifa
Team: W/EP Mike and Julie Scully (The Simpsons); EP Amy Poehler, Dave Becky
Studio: 20th Century Fox TV, Universal Television, Paper Kite Productions, 3 Arts


NBC Drama


Law & Order: Hate Crimes — STRAIGHT-TO-SERIES ORDER

Logline: Based on the real-life Hate Crimes Task Force within the New York Police Department. The unit works under the Special Victims Unit (the basis for SVU) within the department and often borrows SVU detectives for help with investigations.
Cast:
Team: EP Dick Wolf, Warren Leight; EP Peter Jankowski, Arthur Forney, Michael Chernuchin, Julie Martin, Mariska Hargitay, Alex Chapple
Studio: Universal Television, Wolf Films
Location:


NBC Comedy


No orders yet.


The CW


Batwoman

Logline: Revolves around Kate Kane (Ruby Rose), who, armed with a passion for social justice and flair for speaking her mind, soars onto the streets of Gotham as Batwoman, an out lesbian and highly trained street fighter primed to snuff out the failing city's criminal resurgence. But don't call her a hero yet — in a city desperate for a savior, Kate must overcome her own demons before embracing the call to be Gotham's symbol of hope.

Cast: Ruby Rose (Orange Is the New Black)
Team: W/EP: Caroline Dries (The Vampire Diaries); EP Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Geoff Johns; EP/D David Nutter
Studio: Warner Bros. TV, Berlanti Productions
Location: