Pavan
03-24-2006, 12:58 AM
It's that time of the year again! Our 4th Annual ABC sitcom pilot development! The last three years we provided in-depth coverage of all the sitcom pilots on ABC:
2003-04:http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=66324
2004-05: http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=104775
2005-06: http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=135751
This year, we'll do the same. This thread will be updated constantly, so keep checking back for title updates, cast updates, photos, which make it and more. There are 18 sitcom pilots in development. Which do you think will make it? Only between 2-4 will make it, so make your picks now.
ABC says: We have a powerful foundation in drama and we remain proactive in pursuing engaging, quality shows that tap into the human element. In comedy, we will continue to take risks with shows that buck the situation formula and focus on character "voices" and "points of view." In total, 16 new dramas and 18 new comedies are 'in consideration' for a place in our lineup.
FALL 2006 SITCOM PILOTS:
"52 Fights"
Half Hour
Cast:
Christine Taylor: Jennifer
Matthew Letscher: Matt
Constance Zimmer: Stacy
Chris Diamantopolous: Rob
Diana-Maria Riva: Laurie
Credits:
Production Company: Touchstone Television
Writer/Executive Producer: Alex Taub
Executive Producer: Peter Traugott
Director: TBA
Christine Taylor (Dodgeball, Zoolander, The Brady Bunch movies) stars in the TV adaptation the bestselling book, "52 Fights," which examines one couple from both sides. Supposedly, a normal newlywed couple has 52 fights in the first year of marriage…it's apparently a steep learning curve when you're discovering how to be married.
Take Jennifer and Matt. They met, fell in love and got married – almost immediately. Now the honeymoon's over and they're living together for the first time in the first house that either of them has ever owned. It's a fixer-upper, but neither of them knows the first thing about fixer-uppering. And that's just the beginning…Jennifer and Matt will be shocked by how hard it is to learn to live with your spouse and realize life is much more complicated than figuring out whose turn it is to clean the dishes. Fortunately, their love is strong enough to work through their 52 fights.
"Untitled Burnett & Beckerman Project"
Half Hour
Cast:
Mick Jagger: Himself
Donal Logue: Eugene Gurkin
Maz Jobrani: Gary
Sofia Vergara: Dakota
Kevin Michael Richardson: Rockefeller Butts
Lenny Venito: Francis "Squatch" Squacieri
Josh Grisetti: Louis Mintz
Koji Kataoka: Teng
Credits:
Production Company: Touchstone Television
Writers/Executive Producers: Jon Beckerman, Rob Burnett
Director: Rob Burnett
From the creators of Ed comes a sweet, hilarious, tale of haves versus have-nots.
For almost 20 years, Eugene Gurkin (Donal Logue) has dreamt of opening a bar, but his dead end job on the late, late janitorial shift won't even fund a bottle of premium booze. In the wake of a co-worker's death, he catches an episode of MTV's Cribs. Call it divine intervention, call it a dumb idea, but whatever it is takes hold of Eugene and soon he recruits a group of misfits into his "gang" for a heist to finance their dreams. The target: a major celebrity's super-luxe Central Park West apartment. Working together, this band of adorable, new-age Robin Hoods, who have never even shoplifted a candy bar, are soon casing the joint and prepping for their crime. What they don't know is that there's a much richer target for them…the chance to find hope, self-esteem and confidence within themselves.
"Untitled Danny Comden Project"
Half Hour
Cast:
Danny Comden: Danny Carter
Bonnie Somerville: Sam Boyd
Scott Cann: Dick
Kal Penn: Max
Credits:
Production Companies: Warner Bros. Television, Wonderland Sound and Vision
Writer: Danny Comden
Executive Producers: McG, Pete Aronson, Eric Zicklin
Director: Robert Duncan McNeil
Do you ever feel trapped by the career choices you've made? Do you feel like there's an enormous gap between who you are, and who you thought you'd be? Do you ever just want to turn your life upside down and do something totally radical before it's too late?
Danny Carter has done just that. When he bumps into Sam, a girl he once new from high school, she is very disappointed that the great, charismatic, inspiring person Danny used to be has become a total sell-out. Something clicks. Re-awakened by this chance encounter to what life could have been...and what it can still be…Danny quits his high-powered job to begin pursuing the things he's always dreamed of achieving. Starting off by re-connecting with Sam and some other friends he'd been neglecting, Danny is beginning to map out a new path in life...one that will be full of challenges and fear, but ultimately, a million times more rewarding than playing it safe.
Actor Danny Comden (I'm with Her) takes one huge leap to create his first comedy, a personal story that's as crazy as he is. Because if he grabs the bull of life by the horns, wherever it takes him will be far more interesting than if he never tried.
"Untitled Brad Copeland Project"
Half Hour
Cast:
Shawn Hatosy: Danny
Johnny Lewis: Collin
Marnette Patterson: Jenny
Gill Gayle: Booney
Lee Garlington: Linda
Bruce Davison: Jerry
Credits:
Production Company: 20th Century Fox
Writer/Executive Producer: Brad Copeland
Director: Roger Kumble
What if you peaked too early? High schools are filled with stars who excel across the board socially, athletically, or even in student government. But many of these stars burn out once they graduate, unable to live up to their promise of greatness.
Danny McGrath was the star of his high school – football champion, homecoming king, all-around cool kid. Ten years later he's not far from where he started. Danny thinks he's got a pretty cool life – he has a smokin' hot wife, owns his own condo, and he's his own boss. Danny also has pool privileges at the empty mansion he landscapes, a mansion he's always dreamed of owning. Most importantly, he's surrounded by friends who remember who he used to be. But today he's getting a wake up call. The "band geek" younger brother he used to bully is coming home. Now worth millions, computer wiz Collin is moving into Danny's dream house. Can Danny handle being the guy who mows his little brother's lawn? Can Danny handle the truth that his life isn't really so great? No, but he's still the cool one and he can still intimidate the heck out of his little brother…at least that's something.
A writer from Arrested Development and My Name Is Earl plumbs the depths of sibling rivalry and comes up with so-painful-it's-funny comic gold. This family may hail from the beaches of South Florida, but it's a story that plays out in backyards all across the country.
"A Day in the Life"
Half Hour
Cast:
Marla Sokoloff: Alice
Josh Cooke: Danny
Wendie Malick: Shelley
Kurt Fuller: Steve
Tim Kazurinksy: Garf
Miriam Shor: Becca
Stephen Rannazzisi: Skobo
Stephnie Weir: Lorna
Credits:
Production Company: Sony Television Productions
Writers/Executive Producers: Josh Goldsmith, Cathy Yuspa
Director: Michael Spiller
Think about how much planning and attention to detail go into arranging a wedding…the venue, the dress, the reception, the food, the flowers, the music...and on and on and on. Months and months of planning go into a celebration that begins and ends in a single day. Not this wedding. Danny and Alice are getting married today, and just like any other wedding it will only take a single day, but we are going to break that single day down into 22 individual episodes as we watch all of the meticulous planning start to unravel throughout the day.
Everything matters at a wedding, and the tiniest of imperfections can reverberate throughout the event as if lives actually hang in the balance. Choice of side salad? A trivial decision for the thousands of side salads you will eat in the course of a lifetime. But for the mother of the bride on wedding day, this might as well be the most critical decision of her life, and if you're the caterer you better get it right. Misplace your contact lenses? No big deal...unless you're the best man and the maid of honor just drank the glass of water you put them in before the two of you went to bed last night... together. Things are about to get very complicated for Danny and Alice as their day turns into a season-long roller coaster with thrilling drops, loops and corkscrews when nothing goes as planned.
The writers of What Women Want and 13. Going on 30 take a full season to dissect the one biggest day in any family's life. Tapping into the charm of such romantic comedies as Father of the Bride and the real horror of Bridezillas they show you the pressure and stress everyone adds to this wild, wonderful event.
"American Men" aka: "The Guys"
Half Hour
Cast:
Sean Astin: Sean Wilson
TBA: Cindy Wilson
Bumper Robinson: Kevin Park
Stephen Tobolowsky: Sterling Moss
David Anthony Higgins: Tyler Farnsworth
Robert Bagnell: Reece Sullivan
Credits:
Production Companies: Warner Bros. Television, Tannenbaum Company
Story by Writers/Executive Producers: Craig Doyle, Al Higgins
Teleplay: Al Higgins
Executive Producers: Kim Tannenbaum, Eric Tannenbaum
Director: Rob Schiller
When you have your first kid, for a little while, you can still get away with trying to convince yourself that you're still that same fun-loving guy who you were pre-kid…hang out with all those buddies you used to hang out with, and do all those cool pre-kid things. But at a certain point, you have to realize that you are not that cool guy anymore: you are a dad. And the people you are actually hanging out with are not those cool guys you used to hang out with but are, in fact, the random assortment of other dads who just happen to have kids the same age as yours. That is your group. That is your posse. That is your reality.
And if you are anything like Sean Wilson, you become determined to make those people your friends and to make that group work. Brought together by their kids, The Guys is about the unlikely but life-altering friendship created amongst a disparate group of men who otherwise would never be spending time together.
An executive producer for Malcolm in the Middle and a writer for The Andy Dick Show examine the private lives of new fathers and prove they can do so much more than change a diaper. It's about the balance between their desire to be an important part of their kids' development and rediscovering the simple joys of outside interests
"Untitled Patricia Heaton Project"
Half Hour
Cast:
Patricia Heaton: Janet Daily
Jenny McCarthy: Hilary
Sherri Shepherd: Rachel
Justine Bateman: Cindy
Lance Barber: Pete
Mo Collins: Mary
Rebecca Wisocky: Heike
Phillip Anthony Rodriguez: Mr. Reid
Credits:
Production Company: Touchstone Television
Writer/Executive Producer: Christine Zander
Executive Producers: Nina Wass, Gene Stein
Director: Ted Wass
What are moms doing weekdays between 9 and 3 while the kids are at school? Patricia Heaton (Everybody Loves Raymond) returns to television in a show that peeks behind the curtain at the zany, but very real world of suburban moms.
Between starting a physical therapy practice, raising two boys and dealing with her own grief, widow Janet Daily (Patricia Heaton) is under a lot of pressure…but she's about to get some moral support. The first helping hand comes from Rachel, the offbeat school principal who's being driven up the wall by parents who feel the need to interfere in their kids' education. On the other hand is trophy wife Hilary, a free spirit who is so desperate to bond with her stepdaughter that she has taken to dressing like a teenager. Thrown together by the PTA, they band together over a mutual dislike for the type-A moms who run the school as their own personal project. But quickly they discover that they need each other far more than they're willing to admit. Be it sounding board, helping hand or just someone to make you laugh, these three unlikely amigos will find out there's safety in numbers.
"Help Me Help You"
Half Hour
Cast:
Ted Danson: Dr. Bill Hoffman
Charlie Finn: Dave
Jim Rash: Josh
Suzy Nakamura: Inger
Darlene Hunt: Darlene
Jere Burns: Michael
Credits:
Production Company: Regency Television
Writers/Executive Producers: Jenni Konner, Ali Rushfield
Director: Brian Dannelly
Whoever came up with the horrible idea of group therapy? Take a bunch of people who are all really messed up in different ways and put them in a room together to try and help each other out. Yeah...that's a great idea. No conflicts there. Just a bunch of crazy, self-obsessed strangers...workin' it out. And if that isn't bad enough, Dr. Bill Hoffman (Ted Danson) is probably the craziest and most self-obsessed of all, but his patients would never know it because he hides behind his very respectable celebrity image as a best-selling author of phenomenally successful self-help books.
Director Brian Dannelly (Saved, Weeds) portrays screwed up people as they work hard to unscrew themselves. Applying the good doctor's advice to the real world with enthusiastic effort, they begin to realize maybe Dr. Bill should be doing the heavy lifting along with them.
"Him and Us" (AKA Elton John Project)
Half Hour
Cast:
Anthony Stewart Head: Max Flash
Kim Cattrall: Freddie
Ashley Williams: Jada
Hugh Sachs: Sydney
Michael Trucco: Pete
Deren Leroy: Tim
Credits:
Production Company: Touchstone Television
Writer/Executive Producer: Cindy Chupak
Executive Producers: Elton John, Michael Edelstein, Bob Halley, Bruce Roberts
Director: Charles Shyer
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live the exclusive life of a rock 'n roll star? For the first time you can join the entourage of an outrageous, larger-than-life, pop superstar. Onstage, backstage, at home, and on the road, every moment is just as explosive and exciting as you've imagined it.
Kim Cattrall stars as Freddie, the long suffering manager of superstar British rock sensation Max Flash who has been burning up the charts for over a quarter of a century. Max is a flamboyant, rhinestone-studded diva who is as outlandish off-stage as on, and Freddie has spent her career protecting the enthusiastic musical genius from the constant parade of people who are trying to get something from Max. Also along for the glamorous jet-set ride is Max's posse. Sure, they all started out employees, but along the way they've become trusted friends, sharing in the trappings of life well lived. For each and every one of them, it's a dream come true...but Freddie has her hands full keeping a caring eye on this eccentric crowd.
Sir Elton John pulls back the leopard print curtain on a rock 'n roll life inspired by his own to reveal the comedy and the dysfunctional family that forms while touring. Collaborating with Sex and the City's Cindy Chupack, Desperate Housewives' Michael Edelstein, and longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin, Sir Elton gives fans an all-access pass behind the scenes to see what few people ever get to see. Together they create a memorable comedy with a heart as big as his talent.
"Let Go" aka: Untitled Bonnie Hunt Project
Half Hour
Cast:
Bonnie Hunt: Kate Holloway
Michael Landes: Nick
Don Lake: Billy
Lauren Tom: Beverly
Anthony Russell: Angelo
Malcolm Barrett: Sam
Dennis Miller: Dr. Langley
Joe Mantegna: Jack
Jonathan Kimmel: Xavier
Credits:
Production Company: Touchstone Television
Writers/Executive Producers: Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake
Director: Bonnie Hunt
With flashbacks, film clips and a touch of fantasy, Bonnie Hunt (Life with Bonnie, Cheaper by the Dozen) and frequent collaborator/comic Don Lake (A Mighty Wind, Best in Show) create a work/play partnership dynamic not seen on television since Moonlighting. It's a crazy world that's sometimes dangerous, sometimes romantic but always funny.
Recently divorced Pasadena Police Detective Kate Holloway's life is like her desk; it looks messy but she knows where everything is. Thank goodness she has her friendship with her longtime partner, Nick. Despite his difficulty in sustaining a relationship, Bonnie is the one woman he is always there for. Together with a wacky cast of characters at the precinct, Bonnie and Nick make solving crimes, while dissecting each other's personal lives, all part of a day's work.
"In Case of Emergency..."
Half Hour
Cast:
Jonathan Silverman: Harry
David Arquette: Jason
Greg Germann: Sherman
Kelly Hu: Dara
Lori Loughlin: Dr. Joanna
Nicholas Roget-King: Dylan
Credits:
Production Company: Touchstone Television
Writer/Executive Producer: Howard J. Morris
Executive Producer: Emile Levisetti
Director: Jon Favreau
It's the line on any medical form or job application that most of us take for granted: Who should we contact in case of emergency? We don't even think twice about it as we fill in the name of our spouse, our parents, our sibling, our best friend. But what if you had no one? What if you looked at that question and struggled to come up with one single person that you could contact if there was a real emergency?
Today is a turning point for three high school buddies who find themselves in places they never would have expected, and learn that in one day they can start with no one to count on, but can finish being able to count on each other. After discovering his wife cleaned him out, diet guru Sherman will hijack an Entenmann's truck and over-indulge. In the face of a fraud indictment, financial whiz Jason will dodge the suicide bullet only to shoot himself in the foot…literally. Unhappily divorced, Harry will finally go for a relaxing "massage" but get an unhappy ending, complete with police chase. And the scantily clad "massage therapist" Dara will get exposed as the High School valedictorian the three men knew her to be. By day's end, good-hearted Harry will have gathered these high school peers under his roof as they come to realize none of them turned out the way they thought they would back in '87. It's a good thing they've all finally got someone to call, because their troubles are just beginning.
Director Jon Favreau (Elf, Swingers) directs Jonathan Silverman (Jekyll), David Arquette (Scream), Greg Germann (Ally McBeal), and Kelly Hu (The Scorpion King)as a fresh quartet of emotionally and physically injured oddballs, and Lori Laughlin (Full House)as the doctor who grounds them all. Together, they're proving that any colossal mistake can be overcome with a lot of help from your friends...and pain killers.
"Mr. Nice Guy" -- DELAYED
Half Hour
Cast:
Diedrich Bader: Guy
Cara DeLizia: Max
Kevin Weisman: Izzy
Rena Sofer: Annie
Credits:
Production Company: Touchstone Television
Writer/Producer: Jeff Astrof
Executive Producer: Peter Traugott
Director: Andy Cadiff
People claim it's the thought that counts, but sometimes good intentions can have the worst consequences. Like when you ask a woman when her baby's due and she tells you she's not pregnant. Now you've called her fat and it doesn't matter that you're helping carry her heavy packages.
Guy is the ultimate Mr. Nice Guy, but, like some weird curse, everything he says or does tends to come out wrong. Fortunately he's found a wife who likes wounded creatures, otherwise, he'd be destined for a lonely existence of TV dinners, comic conventions and online chat rooms. His verbal diarrhea is constantly getting him into trouble. Ironically, Guy works in sales. His best friend Izzy thinks there's an easy solution…whatever Guy's instincts tell him to do, do the opposite. It's an idea that just might work, if only Guy didn't have a compulsive need to fix his mistakes.
A writer for Friends takes a semi-autobiographical look at what happens when you spend your life with "foot in mouth" disease.
"Notes From The Underbelly"
Half Hour
Cast:
Peter Cambor: Andrew
Jennifer Westfeldt: Lauren
Melanie Paxson: Julie
Rachel Harris: Cooper
Michael Weaver: Danny
Sunkrish Bala: Eric
Credits:
Production Companies: Warner Bros. Television, Tannenbaum Company
Writer/Executive Producer: Stacy Traub
Executive Producers: Kim Tannenbaum, Eric Tannenbaum
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Everyone knows that when you have a baby your life changes, but no one points out that the very first way that it changes is that you have to lie to everyone you know for the first three months until it's safe to tell people. Andrew and Lauren have just found out they're going to be having a baby, and are having a slightly difficult time following rule number one – keeping it secret. Suddenly switching to decaf, becoming a teatotaller at cocktail parties, going to the OBGYN...hard stuff to keep from family and close friends.
Well, Andrew and Lauren are about to learn that when the secret gets out, the politics of parenthood can be just as demanding as raising the child. Sometimes all that "help" from loving but intrusive parents and "advice" from well-meaning but competitive friends who are trying to show you what great parents they already are is not exactly what you're looking for. Knowing what's best for the child could be the easiest part...maintaining your relationships with family and friends can be the real challenge.
Director Barry Sonnenfeld and two producers of Two and Half Men create a comic take on life's greatest adventure. As this group of friends watch their lives change to accommodate the little stranger, their relationships change in ways they never expected before they were expecting.
"Our Thirties"
Half-Hour
Cast:
Rachel Blanchard: Jessica
Heather Stephens: Alice
Peter Serafinowicz: Austin
Sarah LaFleur: Emily
Dondre Whitfield: Daniel
Rashida Jones: Liz
Shane McRae: Lloyd
Tom R. Hughes: Kyle
Credits:
Production Company: Touchstone Television
Writer/Executive Producer: David Walpert
Executive Producer: Warren Littlefield
Director: Dennie Gordon
Conventional wisdom tells us one thing, but the way we choose to live our lives may not necessarily be in line with what the world expects. And that's ok. Our Thirties is a comedy that explores a group of friends who are doing what just about everyone else is doing these days...swimming a little bit against the tide of the expectations from the generation that came before us.
Take, for example the couple that has just gotten divorced. They were the perfect couple with the perfect marriage, and now that they have split they are determined to support each other in the perfect divorce, cheering each other on as each of them returns to the dating pool. Or, how about the divorcee who is engaged to a closeted major league baseball player and is simply enjoying all the fame and attention? Or the couple that has just come to the realization that they don't have to get married despite the pressure they're feeling from family and friends? All of these relationships will be tested when the 11-year-old son one of them never knew he had shows up, adding an unexpected wrinkle to life's journey.
A co-executive producer of Just Shoot Me tackles the new opportunities today's world offers thirty-somethings. Because no matter who you are or what you've become, you can be happy if you choose to be.
"Pink Collar"
Half Hour
Cast:
Alicia Silverstone: Hayden Flynn
Ryan Michelle Bathe: Alix
Hedy Burress: Claire
Kristin Bauer: Eve
Reggie Austin: Steve P
Matt Malloy: Marcel
Credits:
Production Companies: HBO Independent Productions, Touchstone Television
Writer/Executive Producer: Patricia Breen
Executive Producers: David Knoller, Alexa Junge
Director: Alan Poul
For the women at the American Accident Insurance Agency, juggling ambition and friendships is a full time job.
Take Hayden (Alicia Silverstone), a hard worker who hates office politics. Hayden's career has been defined by one small but lasting workplace fiasco that occurred years ago. Trying to get back into the company's good graces, Hayden must compete with her best friend Claire for a promotion. Claire is the ultimate competitor, and is determined to make VP by the time she's 30 – but when she unexpectedly finds out she's pregnant, Claire begins to wonder if a woman has to make a choice between career and motherhood. Both women are under the watchful eye of Eve, the ultimate political machine who isn't afraid to ruffle feathers (or sleep with a coworker) to establish her place in the office hierarchy. Then there's Alix, the newbie who's got everything going for her: beauty, an MBA degree and minority status. As compassion and competition collide, all of these women must balance the wonderful, yet difficult, issues that arise when you're working with (and competing with) your friends.
Writers from Friends and Frasier, and a director from Six Feet Under peek behind the cubicle walls of Corporate America to find it's now a woman's world.
"Separated at Worth" (AKA Untitled Sister Project)
Half Hour
Cast:
Marisa Coughlan: Tess
Kaley Cuoco: Gabby
Brad Raider: Dax
Michael Boatman: Mark
Jane Lynch: Jennifer
Andrew Walker: Nicholas
Credits:
Production Company: Warner Bros. Television
Writer/Executive Producer: Shana Goldberg-Meehan
Executive Producer/Director: Andy Ackerman
How can two sisters with the same parents have completely different upbringings? Tess was raised by her hippie parents and had a totally idyllic middle-class upbringing. But just when she went off to college her professor dad struck it rich with a hit book and suddenly they were leading a very different life...and Tess' sister Gabby, 10 years younger, was raised in the lap of luxury with not a care in the world.
Now, years later, Gabby has been expelled from college and the last thing she's going to do is tell her parents. She connives her way into living with Tess, who is busy trying to make her own way and establishing herself as a journalist while taking pains not to allow herself to lean on her parents for financial support. Much more than a comedy between a frugal sister and a spoiled sister, this is a comedy that taps into the widespread generation rift between the Gen-X-ers who have struggled for years to get ahead and the super-entitled generation that is currently nipping at their heels.
A writer of Friends dissects her own sisterly battles and affections to prove that family is more important than anything. It's a comic tale of the culture clash between today's two generations of young adults. People in their twenties who seem entitled to have life handed to them on a silver platter, and people in their thirties who knows they have to melt the silver to make their own tray.
"Girls On the Bus"
Half Hour
Cast:
Kiele Sanchez: Ronnie Sarazen
Edward Kerr: Seth
Dan Lauria: Tom
Sarah Parish: Cassidy Long
Maulik Pancholoy: Skip
Sara Gilbert: Helen
Credits:
Production Company: Touchstone Television
Writer/Executive Producer: Don Todd
Executive Producer: Peter Traugott
Director: Julianne Robinson
Embrace a fresh perspective on a workplace comedy in the never-before-seen fast-paced, high-pressure world of campaign coverage. Based on the unbelievable experiences of reporter Alexandra Pelosi, it is the comedy that proves politics not only makes for strange bedfellows, but also isn't as serious a world as one might think.
Ronnie Sarazen thinks she is ready for the big leagues. She did the homework, got the degree, and bought the suits. After a couple of years at the bottom in local news, opportunity knocks when she is hired as the segment producer for seasoned, experienced on-air reporter, Cassidy Long. But book smart and office smart proves to be a whole world different than road smart when Ronnie gets on the campaign bus for the first time. If Ronnie does not get up to speed quickly, she is going to get run over. Between the resigned, been-there-done-that approach of her seatmate Helen, and her boss Cassidy's high-maintenance, do-anything-for-a story attitude, Ronnie is eventually going to have to learn the ropes. In the end, she will probably end up learning more about herself and growing up, than she does about producing as she juggles public news, private life, and personal ethics from now until Election Day.
"Women of a Certain Age"
Half Hour
Cast:
Heather Locklear: Barb
Illeana Douglas: Sharon
Peri Gilpin: Dianne
Brittany Robertson: Doria
Credits:
Production Company: Touchstone Television
Writer/Executive Producer: Allison Adler
Executive Producers: Gabe Sachs, Jeff Judah, Stu Bloomberg
Director: Arlene Sanford
Is 40 really the new 30?
Heather Locklear stars as Barb, a widowed mom whose friends keep telling her she needs to "get back out there." It's been over a year since Barb's husband has passed away, and for the first time, Barb and her friends Dianne (a newly separated mom of twins) and Sharon (a serial dater) are all single at the same time and ready to take on the dating world. Still, it's not easy out there when you're a 40-year-old woman. When a 40-year-old man finds a soulmate she's usually 25-years-old and a size two. That's the challenge for these three lifelong friends intent to support each other as they help Barb navigate through foreign waters.
Writers of Freaks and Geeks and Just Shoot Me bring us a comedy about having the time of your life a little later in life than you expected.
My picks on which will be added to the fall line-up:
3/23/06
It seems to me that ABC has gone with a lot of "women" stars (Heather Locklear, Patricia Heaton, Bonnie Hunt, Alicia Silverstone, Kim Cattrall etc.). It makes me wonder if they will try and start a women-themed night capped off by Grey's Anatomy. I can actually see them do Hope & Faith, and then three new comedies, followed by Grey's Anatomy on Tuesdays, but I don't think it'll happen.
It is too early to tell which will make it, because they have not been even taped/filmed yet. I am still uncertain on which are traditional and which are one-camera. I know for a fact that Bonnie Hunt's sitcom will be one-camera, so it makes me wonder if that will make it because one-camera sitcoms seem to never really do well ratings wise--but that cast is probably the most all-star cast of the bunch. I think Locklear and Heaton's sitcoms will make it because they are traditional style (four-camera). Cattrall's sitcom is from Sir Elton John, so that might be a plus for it to make it. Others that look good so far: Ted Danson's sitcom, Danny Comden's sitcom, and In Case of Emergency...
I'll keep this up to date as I learn any new info, so check back on my thoughts!
DISCLAIMER:
Please remember most of these pilots will not make it, so it will be kind of cool having a photo of a cast of a show that does not make it. So out of these 18 sitcoms, probably about 2-4 will make it on the air actually this fall. The rest will go in what is called pilot hell, where tons of pilots each year go.
Please post your thoughts on which you think will make it.
2003-04:http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=66324
2004-05: http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=104775
2005-06: http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=135751
This year, we'll do the same. This thread will be updated constantly, so keep checking back for title updates, cast updates, photos, which make it and more. There are 18 sitcom pilots in development. Which do you think will make it? Only between 2-4 will make it, so make your picks now.
ABC says: We have a powerful foundation in drama and we remain proactive in pursuing engaging, quality shows that tap into the human element. In comedy, we will continue to take risks with shows that buck the situation formula and focus on character "voices" and "points of view." In total, 16 new dramas and 18 new comedies are 'in consideration' for a place in our lineup.
FALL 2006 SITCOM PILOTS:
"52 Fights"
Half Hour
Cast:
Christine Taylor: Jennifer
Matthew Letscher: Matt
Constance Zimmer: Stacy
Chris Diamantopolous: Rob
Diana-Maria Riva: Laurie
Credits:
Production Company: Touchstone Television
Writer/Executive Producer: Alex Taub
Executive Producer: Peter Traugott
Director: TBA
Christine Taylor (Dodgeball, Zoolander, The Brady Bunch movies) stars in the TV adaptation the bestselling book, "52 Fights," which examines one couple from both sides. Supposedly, a normal newlywed couple has 52 fights in the first year of marriage…it's apparently a steep learning curve when you're discovering how to be married.
Take Jennifer and Matt. They met, fell in love and got married – almost immediately. Now the honeymoon's over and they're living together for the first time in the first house that either of them has ever owned. It's a fixer-upper, but neither of them knows the first thing about fixer-uppering. And that's just the beginning…Jennifer and Matt will be shocked by how hard it is to learn to live with your spouse and realize life is much more complicated than figuring out whose turn it is to clean the dishes. Fortunately, their love is strong enough to work through their 52 fights.
"Untitled Burnett & Beckerman Project"
Half Hour
Cast:
Mick Jagger: Himself
Donal Logue: Eugene Gurkin
Maz Jobrani: Gary
Sofia Vergara: Dakota
Kevin Michael Richardson: Rockefeller Butts
Lenny Venito: Francis "Squatch" Squacieri
Josh Grisetti: Louis Mintz
Koji Kataoka: Teng
Credits:
Production Company: Touchstone Television
Writers/Executive Producers: Jon Beckerman, Rob Burnett
Director: Rob Burnett
From the creators of Ed comes a sweet, hilarious, tale of haves versus have-nots.
For almost 20 years, Eugene Gurkin (Donal Logue) has dreamt of opening a bar, but his dead end job on the late, late janitorial shift won't even fund a bottle of premium booze. In the wake of a co-worker's death, he catches an episode of MTV's Cribs. Call it divine intervention, call it a dumb idea, but whatever it is takes hold of Eugene and soon he recruits a group of misfits into his "gang" for a heist to finance their dreams. The target: a major celebrity's super-luxe Central Park West apartment. Working together, this band of adorable, new-age Robin Hoods, who have never even shoplifted a candy bar, are soon casing the joint and prepping for their crime. What they don't know is that there's a much richer target for them…the chance to find hope, self-esteem and confidence within themselves.
"Untitled Danny Comden Project"
Half Hour
Cast:
Danny Comden: Danny Carter
Bonnie Somerville: Sam Boyd
Scott Cann: Dick
Kal Penn: Max
Credits:
Production Companies: Warner Bros. Television, Wonderland Sound and Vision
Writer: Danny Comden
Executive Producers: McG, Pete Aronson, Eric Zicklin
Director: Robert Duncan McNeil
Do you ever feel trapped by the career choices you've made? Do you feel like there's an enormous gap between who you are, and who you thought you'd be? Do you ever just want to turn your life upside down and do something totally radical before it's too late?
Danny Carter has done just that. When he bumps into Sam, a girl he once new from high school, she is very disappointed that the great, charismatic, inspiring person Danny used to be has become a total sell-out. Something clicks. Re-awakened by this chance encounter to what life could have been...and what it can still be…Danny quits his high-powered job to begin pursuing the things he's always dreamed of achieving. Starting off by re-connecting with Sam and some other friends he'd been neglecting, Danny is beginning to map out a new path in life...one that will be full of challenges and fear, but ultimately, a million times more rewarding than playing it safe.
Actor Danny Comden (I'm with Her) takes one huge leap to create his first comedy, a personal story that's as crazy as he is. Because if he grabs the bull of life by the horns, wherever it takes him will be far more interesting than if he never tried.
"Untitled Brad Copeland Project"
Half Hour
Cast:
Shawn Hatosy: Danny
Johnny Lewis: Collin
Marnette Patterson: Jenny
Gill Gayle: Booney
Lee Garlington: Linda
Bruce Davison: Jerry
Credits:
Production Company: 20th Century Fox
Writer/Executive Producer: Brad Copeland
Director: Roger Kumble
What if you peaked too early? High schools are filled with stars who excel across the board socially, athletically, or even in student government. But many of these stars burn out once they graduate, unable to live up to their promise of greatness.
Danny McGrath was the star of his high school – football champion, homecoming king, all-around cool kid. Ten years later he's not far from where he started. Danny thinks he's got a pretty cool life – he has a smokin' hot wife, owns his own condo, and he's his own boss. Danny also has pool privileges at the empty mansion he landscapes, a mansion he's always dreamed of owning. Most importantly, he's surrounded by friends who remember who he used to be. But today he's getting a wake up call. The "band geek" younger brother he used to bully is coming home. Now worth millions, computer wiz Collin is moving into Danny's dream house. Can Danny handle being the guy who mows his little brother's lawn? Can Danny handle the truth that his life isn't really so great? No, but he's still the cool one and he can still intimidate the heck out of his little brother…at least that's something.
A writer from Arrested Development and My Name Is Earl plumbs the depths of sibling rivalry and comes up with so-painful-it's-funny comic gold. This family may hail from the beaches of South Florida, but it's a story that plays out in backyards all across the country.
"A Day in the Life"
Half Hour
Cast:
Marla Sokoloff: Alice
Josh Cooke: Danny
Wendie Malick: Shelley
Kurt Fuller: Steve
Tim Kazurinksy: Garf
Miriam Shor: Becca
Stephen Rannazzisi: Skobo
Stephnie Weir: Lorna
Credits:
Production Company: Sony Television Productions
Writers/Executive Producers: Josh Goldsmith, Cathy Yuspa
Director: Michael Spiller
Think about how much planning and attention to detail go into arranging a wedding…the venue, the dress, the reception, the food, the flowers, the music...and on and on and on. Months and months of planning go into a celebration that begins and ends in a single day. Not this wedding. Danny and Alice are getting married today, and just like any other wedding it will only take a single day, but we are going to break that single day down into 22 individual episodes as we watch all of the meticulous planning start to unravel throughout the day.
Everything matters at a wedding, and the tiniest of imperfections can reverberate throughout the event as if lives actually hang in the balance. Choice of side salad? A trivial decision for the thousands of side salads you will eat in the course of a lifetime. But for the mother of the bride on wedding day, this might as well be the most critical decision of her life, and if you're the caterer you better get it right. Misplace your contact lenses? No big deal...unless you're the best man and the maid of honor just drank the glass of water you put them in before the two of you went to bed last night... together. Things are about to get very complicated for Danny and Alice as their day turns into a season-long roller coaster with thrilling drops, loops and corkscrews when nothing goes as planned.
The writers of What Women Want and 13. Going on 30 take a full season to dissect the one biggest day in any family's life. Tapping into the charm of such romantic comedies as Father of the Bride and the real horror of Bridezillas they show you the pressure and stress everyone adds to this wild, wonderful event.
"American Men" aka: "The Guys"
Half Hour
Cast:
Sean Astin: Sean Wilson
TBA: Cindy Wilson
Bumper Robinson: Kevin Park
Stephen Tobolowsky: Sterling Moss
David Anthony Higgins: Tyler Farnsworth
Robert Bagnell: Reece Sullivan
Credits:
Production Companies: Warner Bros. Television, Tannenbaum Company
Story by Writers/Executive Producers: Craig Doyle, Al Higgins
Teleplay: Al Higgins
Executive Producers: Kim Tannenbaum, Eric Tannenbaum
Director: Rob Schiller
When you have your first kid, for a little while, you can still get away with trying to convince yourself that you're still that same fun-loving guy who you were pre-kid…hang out with all those buddies you used to hang out with, and do all those cool pre-kid things. But at a certain point, you have to realize that you are not that cool guy anymore: you are a dad. And the people you are actually hanging out with are not those cool guys you used to hang out with but are, in fact, the random assortment of other dads who just happen to have kids the same age as yours. That is your group. That is your posse. That is your reality.
And if you are anything like Sean Wilson, you become determined to make those people your friends and to make that group work. Brought together by their kids, The Guys is about the unlikely but life-altering friendship created amongst a disparate group of men who otherwise would never be spending time together.
An executive producer for Malcolm in the Middle and a writer for The Andy Dick Show examine the private lives of new fathers and prove they can do so much more than change a diaper. It's about the balance between their desire to be an important part of their kids' development and rediscovering the simple joys of outside interests
"Untitled Patricia Heaton Project"
Half Hour
Cast:
Patricia Heaton: Janet Daily
Jenny McCarthy: Hilary
Sherri Shepherd: Rachel
Justine Bateman: Cindy
Lance Barber: Pete
Mo Collins: Mary
Rebecca Wisocky: Heike
Phillip Anthony Rodriguez: Mr. Reid
Credits:
Production Company: Touchstone Television
Writer/Executive Producer: Christine Zander
Executive Producers: Nina Wass, Gene Stein
Director: Ted Wass
What are moms doing weekdays between 9 and 3 while the kids are at school? Patricia Heaton (Everybody Loves Raymond) returns to television in a show that peeks behind the curtain at the zany, but very real world of suburban moms.
Between starting a physical therapy practice, raising two boys and dealing with her own grief, widow Janet Daily (Patricia Heaton) is under a lot of pressure…but she's about to get some moral support. The first helping hand comes from Rachel, the offbeat school principal who's being driven up the wall by parents who feel the need to interfere in their kids' education. On the other hand is trophy wife Hilary, a free spirit who is so desperate to bond with her stepdaughter that she has taken to dressing like a teenager. Thrown together by the PTA, they band together over a mutual dislike for the type-A moms who run the school as their own personal project. But quickly they discover that they need each other far more than they're willing to admit. Be it sounding board, helping hand or just someone to make you laugh, these three unlikely amigos will find out there's safety in numbers.
"Help Me Help You"
Half Hour
Cast:
Ted Danson: Dr. Bill Hoffman
Charlie Finn: Dave
Jim Rash: Josh
Suzy Nakamura: Inger
Darlene Hunt: Darlene
Jere Burns: Michael
Credits:
Production Company: Regency Television
Writers/Executive Producers: Jenni Konner, Ali Rushfield
Director: Brian Dannelly
Whoever came up with the horrible idea of group therapy? Take a bunch of people who are all really messed up in different ways and put them in a room together to try and help each other out. Yeah...that's a great idea. No conflicts there. Just a bunch of crazy, self-obsessed strangers...workin' it out. And if that isn't bad enough, Dr. Bill Hoffman (Ted Danson) is probably the craziest and most self-obsessed of all, but his patients would never know it because he hides behind his very respectable celebrity image as a best-selling author of phenomenally successful self-help books.
Director Brian Dannelly (Saved, Weeds) portrays screwed up people as they work hard to unscrew themselves. Applying the good doctor's advice to the real world with enthusiastic effort, they begin to realize maybe Dr. Bill should be doing the heavy lifting along with them.
"Him and Us" (AKA Elton John Project)
Half Hour
Cast:
Anthony Stewart Head: Max Flash
Kim Cattrall: Freddie
Ashley Williams: Jada
Hugh Sachs: Sydney
Michael Trucco: Pete
Deren Leroy: Tim
Credits:
Production Company: Touchstone Television
Writer/Executive Producer: Cindy Chupak
Executive Producers: Elton John, Michael Edelstein, Bob Halley, Bruce Roberts
Director: Charles Shyer
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live the exclusive life of a rock 'n roll star? For the first time you can join the entourage of an outrageous, larger-than-life, pop superstar. Onstage, backstage, at home, and on the road, every moment is just as explosive and exciting as you've imagined it.
Kim Cattrall stars as Freddie, the long suffering manager of superstar British rock sensation Max Flash who has been burning up the charts for over a quarter of a century. Max is a flamboyant, rhinestone-studded diva who is as outlandish off-stage as on, and Freddie has spent her career protecting the enthusiastic musical genius from the constant parade of people who are trying to get something from Max. Also along for the glamorous jet-set ride is Max's posse. Sure, they all started out employees, but along the way they've become trusted friends, sharing in the trappings of life well lived. For each and every one of them, it's a dream come true...but Freddie has her hands full keeping a caring eye on this eccentric crowd.
Sir Elton John pulls back the leopard print curtain on a rock 'n roll life inspired by his own to reveal the comedy and the dysfunctional family that forms while touring. Collaborating with Sex and the City's Cindy Chupack, Desperate Housewives' Michael Edelstein, and longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin, Sir Elton gives fans an all-access pass behind the scenes to see what few people ever get to see. Together they create a memorable comedy with a heart as big as his talent.
"Let Go" aka: Untitled Bonnie Hunt Project
Half Hour
Cast:
Bonnie Hunt: Kate Holloway
Michael Landes: Nick
Don Lake: Billy
Lauren Tom: Beverly
Anthony Russell: Angelo
Malcolm Barrett: Sam
Dennis Miller: Dr. Langley
Joe Mantegna: Jack
Jonathan Kimmel: Xavier
Credits:
Production Company: Touchstone Television
Writers/Executive Producers: Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake
Director: Bonnie Hunt
With flashbacks, film clips and a touch of fantasy, Bonnie Hunt (Life with Bonnie, Cheaper by the Dozen) and frequent collaborator/comic Don Lake (A Mighty Wind, Best in Show) create a work/play partnership dynamic not seen on television since Moonlighting. It's a crazy world that's sometimes dangerous, sometimes romantic but always funny.
Recently divorced Pasadena Police Detective Kate Holloway's life is like her desk; it looks messy but she knows where everything is. Thank goodness she has her friendship with her longtime partner, Nick. Despite his difficulty in sustaining a relationship, Bonnie is the one woman he is always there for. Together with a wacky cast of characters at the precinct, Bonnie and Nick make solving crimes, while dissecting each other's personal lives, all part of a day's work.
"In Case of Emergency..."
Half Hour
Cast:
Jonathan Silverman: Harry
David Arquette: Jason
Greg Germann: Sherman
Kelly Hu: Dara
Lori Loughlin: Dr. Joanna
Nicholas Roget-King: Dylan
Credits:
Production Company: Touchstone Television
Writer/Executive Producer: Howard J. Morris
Executive Producer: Emile Levisetti
Director: Jon Favreau
It's the line on any medical form or job application that most of us take for granted: Who should we contact in case of emergency? We don't even think twice about it as we fill in the name of our spouse, our parents, our sibling, our best friend. But what if you had no one? What if you looked at that question and struggled to come up with one single person that you could contact if there was a real emergency?
Today is a turning point for three high school buddies who find themselves in places they never would have expected, and learn that in one day they can start with no one to count on, but can finish being able to count on each other. After discovering his wife cleaned him out, diet guru Sherman will hijack an Entenmann's truck and over-indulge. In the face of a fraud indictment, financial whiz Jason will dodge the suicide bullet only to shoot himself in the foot…literally. Unhappily divorced, Harry will finally go for a relaxing "massage" but get an unhappy ending, complete with police chase. And the scantily clad "massage therapist" Dara will get exposed as the High School valedictorian the three men knew her to be. By day's end, good-hearted Harry will have gathered these high school peers under his roof as they come to realize none of them turned out the way they thought they would back in '87. It's a good thing they've all finally got someone to call, because their troubles are just beginning.
Director Jon Favreau (Elf, Swingers) directs Jonathan Silverman (Jekyll), David Arquette (Scream), Greg Germann (Ally McBeal), and Kelly Hu (The Scorpion King)as a fresh quartet of emotionally and physically injured oddballs, and Lori Laughlin (Full House)as the doctor who grounds them all. Together, they're proving that any colossal mistake can be overcome with a lot of help from your friends...and pain killers.
"Mr. Nice Guy" -- DELAYED
Half Hour
Cast:
Diedrich Bader: Guy
Cara DeLizia: Max
Kevin Weisman: Izzy
Rena Sofer: Annie
Credits:
Production Company: Touchstone Television
Writer/Producer: Jeff Astrof
Executive Producer: Peter Traugott
Director: Andy Cadiff
People claim it's the thought that counts, but sometimes good intentions can have the worst consequences. Like when you ask a woman when her baby's due and she tells you she's not pregnant. Now you've called her fat and it doesn't matter that you're helping carry her heavy packages.
Guy is the ultimate Mr. Nice Guy, but, like some weird curse, everything he says or does tends to come out wrong. Fortunately he's found a wife who likes wounded creatures, otherwise, he'd be destined for a lonely existence of TV dinners, comic conventions and online chat rooms. His verbal diarrhea is constantly getting him into trouble. Ironically, Guy works in sales. His best friend Izzy thinks there's an easy solution…whatever Guy's instincts tell him to do, do the opposite. It's an idea that just might work, if only Guy didn't have a compulsive need to fix his mistakes.
A writer for Friends takes a semi-autobiographical look at what happens when you spend your life with "foot in mouth" disease.
"Notes From The Underbelly"
Half Hour
Cast:
Peter Cambor: Andrew
Jennifer Westfeldt: Lauren
Melanie Paxson: Julie
Rachel Harris: Cooper
Michael Weaver: Danny
Sunkrish Bala: Eric
Credits:
Production Companies: Warner Bros. Television, Tannenbaum Company
Writer/Executive Producer: Stacy Traub
Executive Producers: Kim Tannenbaum, Eric Tannenbaum
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Everyone knows that when you have a baby your life changes, but no one points out that the very first way that it changes is that you have to lie to everyone you know for the first three months until it's safe to tell people. Andrew and Lauren have just found out they're going to be having a baby, and are having a slightly difficult time following rule number one – keeping it secret. Suddenly switching to decaf, becoming a teatotaller at cocktail parties, going to the OBGYN...hard stuff to keep from family and close friends.
Well, Andrew and Lauren are about to learn that when the secret gets out, the politics of parenthood can be just as demanding as raising the child. Sometimes all that "help" from loving but intrusive parents and "advice" from well-meaning but competitive friends who are trying to show you what great parents they already are is not exactly what you're looking for. Knowing what's best for the child could be the easiest part...maintaining your relationships with family and friends can be the real challenge.
Director Barry Sonnenfeld and two producers of Two and Half Men create a comic take on life's greatest adventure. As this group of friends watch their lives change to accommodate the little stranger, their relationships change in ways they never expected before they were expecting.
"Our Thirties"
Half-Hour
Cast:
Rachel Blanchard: Jessica
Heather Stephens: Alice
Peter Serafinowicz: Austin
Sarah LaFleur: Emily
Dondre Whitfield: Daniel
Rashida Jones: Liz
Shane McRae: Lloyd
Tom R. Hughes: Kyle
Credits:
Production Company: Touchstone Television
Writer/Executive Producer: David Walpert
Executive Producer: Warren Littlefield
Director: Dennie Gordon
Conventional wisdom tells us one thing, but the way we choose to live our lives may not necessarily be in line with what the world expects. And that's ok. Our Thirties is a comedy that explores a group of friends who are doing what just about everyone else is doing these days...swimming a little bit against the tide of the expectations from the generation that came before us.
Take, for example the couple that has just gotten divorced. They were the perfect couple with the perfect marriage, and now that they have split they are determined to support each other in the perfect divorce, cheering each other on as each of them returns to the dating pool. Or, how about the divorcee who is engaged to a closeted major league baseball player and is simply enjoying all the fame and attention? Or the couple that has just come to the realization that they don't have to get married despite the pressure they're feeling from family and friends? All of these relationships will be tested when the 11-year-old son one of them never knew he had shows up, adding an unexpected wrinkle to life's journey.
A co-executive producer of Just Shoot Me tackles the new opportunities today's world offers thirty-somethings. Because no matter who you are or what you've become, you can be happy if you choose to be.
"Pink Collar"
Half Hour
Cast:
Alicia Silverstone: Hayden Flynn
Ryan Michelle Bathe: Alix
Hedy Burress: Claire
Kristin Bauer: Eve
Reggie Austin: Steve P
Matt Malloy: Marcel
Credits:
Production Companies: HBO Independent Productions, Touchstone Television
Writer/Executive Producer: Patricia Breen
Executive Producers: David Knoller, Alexa Junge
Director: Alan Poul
For the women at the American Accident Insurance Agency, juggling ambition and friendships is a full time job.
Take Hayden (Alicia Silverstone), a hard worker who hates office politics. Hayden's career has been defined by one small but lasting workplace fiasco that occurred years ago. Trying to get back into the company's good graces, Hayden must compete with her best friend Claire for a promotion. Claire is the ultimate competitor, and is determined to make VP by the time she's 30 – but when she unexpectedly finds out she's pregnant, Claire begins to wonder if a woman has to make a choice between career and motherhood. Both women are under the watchful eye of Eve, the ultimate political machine who isn't afraid to ruffle feathers (or sleep with a coworker) to establish her place in the office hierarchy. Then there's Alix, the newbie who's got everything going for her: beauty, an MBA degree and minority status. As compassion and competition collide, all of these women must balance the wonderful, yet difficult, issues that arise when you're working with (and competing with) your friends.
Writers from Friends and Frasier, and a director from Six Feet Under peek behind the cubicle walls of Corporate America to find it's now a woman's world.
"Separated at Worth" (AKA Untitled Sister Project)
Half Hour
Cast:
Marisa Coughlan: Tess
Kaley Cuoco: Gabby
Brad Raider: Dax
Michael Boatman: Mark
Jane Lynch: Jennifer
Andrew Walker: Nicholas
Credits:
Production Company: Warner Bros. Television
Writer/Executive Producer: Shana Goldberg-Meehan
Executive Producer/Director: Andy Ackerman
How can two sisters with the same parents have completely different upbringings? Tess was raised by her hippie parents and had a totally idyllic middle-class upbringing. But just when she went off to college her professor dad struck it rich with a hit book and suddenly they were leading a very different life...and Tess' sister Gabby, 10 years younger, was raised in the lap of luxury with not a care in the world.
Now, years later, Gabby has been expelled from college and the last thing she's going to do is tell her parents. She connives her way into living with Tess, who is busy trying to make her own way and establishing herself as a journalist while taking pains not to allow herself to lean on her parents for financial support. Much more than a comedy between a frugal sister and a spoiled sister, this is a comedy that taps into the widespread generation rift between the Gen-X-ers who have struggled for years to get ahead and the super-entitled generation that is currently nipping at their heels.
A writer of Friends dissects her own sisterly battles and affections to prove that family is more important than anything. It's a comic tale of the culture clash between today's two generations of young adults. People in their twenties who seem entitled to have life handed to them on a silver platter, and people in their thirties who knows they have to melt the silver to make their own tray.
"Girls On the Bus"
Half Hour
Cast:
Kiele Sanchez: Ronnie Sarazen
Edward Kerr: Seth
Dan Lauria: Tom
Sarah Parish: Cassidy Long
Maulik Pancholoy: Skip
Sara Gilbert: Helen
Credits:
Production Company: Touchstone Television
Writer/Executive Producer: Don Todd
Executive Producer: Peter Traugott
Director: Julianne Robinson
Embrace a fresh perspective on a workplace comedy in the never-before-seen fast-paced, high-pressure world of campaign coverage. Based on the unbelievable experiences of reporter Alexandra Pelosi, it is the comedy that proves politics not only makes for strange bedfellows, but also isn't as serious a world as one might think.
Ronnie Sarazen thinks she is ready for the big leagues. She did the homework, got the degree, and bought the suits. After a couple of years at the bottom in local news, opportunity knocks when she is hired as the segment producer for seasoned, experienced on-air reporter, Cassidy Long. But book smart and office smart proves to be a whole world different than road smart when Ronnie gets on the campaign bus for the first time. If Ronnie does not get up to speed quickly, she is going to get run over. Between the resigned, been-there-done-that approach of her seatmate Helen, and her boss Cassidy's high-maintenance, do-anything-for-a story attitude, Ronnie is eventually going to have to learn the ropes. In the end, she will probably end up learning more about herself and growing up, than she does about producing as she juggles public news, private life, and personal ethics from now until Election Day.
"Women of a Certain Age"
Half Hour
Cast:
Heather Locklear: Barb
Illeana Douglas: Sharon
Peri Gilpin: Dianne
Brittany Robertson: Doria
Credits:
Production Company: Touchstone Television
Writer/Executive Producer: Allison Adler
Executive Producers: Gabe Sachs, Jeff Judah, Stu Bloomberg
Director: Arlene Sanford
Is 40 really the new 30?
Heather Locklear stars as Barb, a widowed mom whose friends keep telling her she needs to "get back out there." It's been over a year since Barb's husband has passed away, and for the first time, Barb and her friends Dianne (a newly separated mom of twins) and Sharon (a serial dater) are all single at the same time and ready to take on the dating world. Still, it's not easy out there when you're a 40-year-old woman. When a 40-year-old man finds a soulmate she's usually 25-years-old and a size two. That's the challenge for these three lifelong friends intent to support each other as they help Barb navigate through foreign waters.
Writers of Freaks and Geeks and Just Shoot Me bring us a comedy about having the time of your life a little later in life than you expected.
My picks on which will be added to the fall line-up:
3/23/06
It seems to me that ABC has gone with a lot of "women" stars (Heather Locklear, Patricia Heaton, Bonnie Hunt, Alicia Silverstone, Kim Cattrall etc.). It makes me wonder if they will try and start a women-themed night capped off by Grey's Anatomy. I can actually see them do Hope & Faith, and then three new comedies, followed by Grey's Anatomy on Tuesdays, but I don't think it'll happen.
It is too early to tell which will make it, because they have not been even taped/filmed yet. I am still uncertain on which are traditional and which are one-camera. I know for a fact that Bonnie Hunt's sitcom will be one-camera, so it makes me wonder if that will make it because one-camera sitcoms seem to never really do well ratings wise--but that cast is probably the most all-star cast of the bunch. I think Locklear and Heaton's sitcoms will make it because they are traditional style (four-camera). Cattrall's sitcom is from Sir Elton John, so that might be a plus for it to make it. Others that look good so far: Ted Danson's sitcom, Danny Comden's sitcom, and In Case of Emergency...
I'll keep this up to date as I learn any new info, so check back on my thoughts!
DISCLAIMER:
Please remember most of these pilots will not make it, so it will be kind of cool having a photo of a cast of a show that does not make it. So out of these 18 sitcoms, probably about 2-4 will make it on the air actually this fall. The rest will go in what is called pilot hell, where tons of pilots each year go.
Please post your thoughts on which you think will make it.