Update May 13 Perfect Couples ordered to series

Updated May 10 with Mr Sunshine and Body of Evidence first promo picture

Updated May 8 The Event picked up for series

Updated May 6 According to deadline.com NBC’s Outsourced today started making firm offers to writers. A series pickup for the ensemble comedy set in India is considered just a formality now

Updated May 5 with The Walking Dead, Rizzoli & Isleys casting news, stafing has begun on Nikita which is usually a good sign and Betwixt name change. I also added some findings about how likely a show is for pickup.

Undercovers (ABC) first order to series this season. Seams the Cape and the Event have been grouped but the network may only pick up one of them, at the moment The Event has better ‘Buzz’, and I was looking forward to Summer Glau in the Event. Word is that The Pink House isn’t likely to go.

ABC No Ordinary Family hasn’t screened yet. Mr Sunshine looks likely for pickup

FOX: Terra Nova was given a 13-episode order with Brannon Braga on board as showrunner. A midseason show because of the elaborate visual effects involved in recreating the age of dinosaurs. (Steven Spielberg is personally recruiting some of the best names in the vfx industry for the series.)

CBS: Hawaii-Five-O is a goo, screening first but the networks execs are said to love it.

These are the pilots coming up that I have found interesting and want to follow up. This roundup focus on science fiction and fantasy shows so them I try to do all of, other shows only if I find them interesting enough. The networks usually decide in May which ones will become series this year. It is indeed a weak year for science fiction and fantasy. Can’t anyone make a decent space traveling show?

It is also a work in progress, know any show that should be included?

The shows I am looking forward to most are:

• Betwixt - Betwixt is currently filming for hopeful inclusion in The CW’s Fall 2010 schedule
• A Game of Thrones - Ordered to series, 10 episodes  to air in spring 2011
• No Ordinary Family
• TNT’s unnamed alien-invasion series.
  
• The Gates - Ordered to series 13 episodes to air summer 2010
• Nikita
• Rizzoli & Isleys
• True Blue.

But it is a bit too early to say anything specific, I would like to see more of the cast and more of the plots.

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Alphas Syfy drama

About a team with superpowers. It’s more drama than comedy according to Stern Mark Stern, the network’s executive vice president of original programming (thr)

Three Inches Syfy drama

The pilot focuses on Walter, a daydreamer turned unlikely superhero, who has the ability to move any object using just his mind … but no more than three inches. He finds himself recruited by a covert team of superheroes who each have their own extraordinarily ordinary abilities. (syfy)

Writer Harley Peyton (“Twin Peaks”) and executive producer Bob Cooper. It centers on an underachiever who gains the power to move any object using his mind, but only for a distance of three inches. He recruits a team of fellow heroes, each with their own less-than-spectacular abilities.
‘Three Inches’ is a fun, smart, offbeat spin on the superhero genre,” Stern said. “It’s a very post-modern approach, with a really wonderful tongue-in-cheek script.” (thr)

A Game of Thrones HBO Approved  to series March 02 (see post) premiere spring 2011

HBO’s adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s acclaimed novel series. Starring Sean Bean and Jennifer Ehle, and hopes to do seven seasons — one for each novel in the series. Producer D.B. Weiss says it won’t be a huge, splashy series with thousands of orcs stampeding across the screen. Instead, it’ll stay true to the books, and most of the battles will take place offstage.

Cast members include Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister, a woman of royal blood, Peter Dinklage as Cersei’s brother Tyrion, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Cersei’s twin, Jaime, Sean Bean as aristocrat Ned Stark, Jennifer Ehle as his wife, Catelyn Stark, and Mark Addy as King Robert.

Full list of cast on THR

Nikita CW Drama
Call me trashy but I liked the old TV show of Nikita with Petra Wilson so this one is in. And the more I think about it the more brilliant the casting of Maggie Q seems.

Maggie Q (“Live Free or Die Hard”, “Mission Impossible III” ) has landed the lead role in the CW pilot. Pretty amazing casting for The CW. She’ll play the title character, a spy who goes rogue. Said hour then tracks both Nikita and Alex, a troubled 19-year-old girl who’s recruited to bring her in. Anne Parillaud, Bridget Fonda and Peta Wilson played Nikita in its previous incarnations.
Shane West (“ER”) has booked the male lead on the drama pilot, about an assassin for a top-secret government organization who goes rogue (Maggie Q) and the new assassin who is trained to replace her. He’ll play Michael, the agent in charge of recruitment sent to bring in the rogue Nikita.
Melinda Clarke (“The O.C.”) as Amanda, a division operative tasked with educating the newly recruited Alex (yet to be cast) in how to use her femininity to her advantage.
Aaron Stanford (“Traveler”) as Birkhoff, a computer specialist who enjoys Red Bull, potato chips and watching skateboarding bloopers on YouTube.
Danny Cannon is already on board to helm the studio’s “Nikita” pilot.
Xander Berkeley (“24″) as Percy, “the Machiavellian leader of Division – a secret unit inside the government.”
Craig Silverstein is behind the Warner Bros. Television-based hour, which Danny Cannon is attached to direct. McG and Peter Johnson also serve as executive producers.
Lyndsy Fonseca (“How I Met Your Mother”) has scored a lead role on the drama pilot, a 21st century take on the “La Femme Nikita” franchise. She’ll play Alex, a 19-year-old felon who – after being sentenced to 25 years in a federal penitentiary – is recruited by a secret government agency to hunt down the title character (Maggie Q), her predecessor. She’s detailed as an “attractive, young, white female with virtually no personal ties or paper trail,” a profile which is deemed ideal for their kind of work.

Betwixt Changelings CW Drama
This sounds like the most promising fantasy pilot this year, and about the only one. I would have guessed there would be one or another green-screen high fantasy marvel out there after Sanctuary and Spartacus.

About three teenagers who learn of their true, “changeling” nature and their uncertain, intertwined destinies after attending a secret summer rave in the woods · A live action adaptation of Tara Bray Smith’s novel Betwixt.

About three teens – Morgan Brower, Nix Uyarak and Celine Halstead – who discover they’re actually “changelings,” the children of mythological fairies.

Jessy Schram (“Life”)  as Morgan Brower, who can transform into a creature with claws, fangs and yellow eyes initially she wakes up in the night with dirt and blood all over her and no memory of where she’d been at night.
Allison Miller (Kings) as Celine Halstead, an “ethereal beauty, who can fly.
Josh Henderson (“Desperate Housewives”) as Nix Uyarak (“handsome, soulful eyes”) a runaway from Alaska who lives in the wood, who has the ability to see a faintly glowing “halo of light” around people who are about to die.
David Gallagher has been cast as Tim Bleeker, a fellow changeling that’s known as a “cutter,” one who’s gone to the dark side. He’s further detailed as having “a dark and slightly androgynous look about him that is both mysterious and sexy
Austin Butler (Jones on LUX) has joined the CW’s new Sci-Fi pilot BETWIXT as Cameron the twin brother of Morgan who transforms into a wild beast with claws, fangs and yellow eyes..
Blair Redford (“Passions”), Tessa Thompson (Veronica Mars) and Joshua Bowman (“Holby City”) also cast but unknown as what

Playing Celine’s mother in the recently-filmed CW pilot Betwixt will be actress Chelah Horsdal. Horsdal’s previous credits include Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem and The L Word. She was seen on Smallville as Dr. McCann in the episode ‘Lexmas’. The character’s name is Vanessa.

It will also be heavily serialized with very dense mythology so don’t expect it to be a monster of the week type show. Also there are some early talk about a crossover with The Vampire Diaries. There will be significant changes from the books including name changes ( Celine = Ordine, Cameron = TJ etc.)

When three teens, each haunted by uncanny happenings, receive invitations to a top-secret summer solstice celebration, they expect a typical Portland rave. Instead, they find an elaborate ritual staged to inform them about a secret, powerful nonhuman race to which they actually belong. Eagerness to learn about the race will pull readers through the first 200 pages, which introduce the connections hurling the teens toward the truth. Thereafter, the momentum slackens, with Smith haphazardly doling out facts about the teens’ true physiology and situation, and introducing confrontations with evil renegades that end before they have truly begun. This isn’t advertised as a series launcher, but many readers will emerge hoping for additional installments that clarify hazy plot elements and further develop Smith’s interesting characters—whose matter-of-fact multiculturalism is a bonus. Aspects of this dark fantasy will remind some readers of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight (2005), especially the poetically limned Pacific Northwest setting. But the language in this book is unusually raw, and occasional sexual allusions, often in a leering context, will substantially narrow the book’s audience. Grades 11-12.
Jennifer Mattson Amazon.com Booklist

Feature writer Elizabeth Chandler (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) has penned the script for the full film pilot and is executive producing with Paul Stupin (Make It or Break It).

For three teenagers dark mystery has always lurked at the corner of the eyes and the edge of sleep. Beautiful Morgan D’Amici wakes in her trailer park home with dirt and blood under her fingernails. Paintings come alive under Ondine Mason’s violet-eyed gaze. Haunted runaway Nix Saint-Michael sees halos of light around people about to die. At a secret summer rave in the woods, the three teenagers learn of their true, changeling nature and their uncertain, intertwined destinies. Riveting, unflinching, beautiful, Betwixt shows a magic as complex and challenging as any ordinary reality.

Haven Syfy Drama – Ordered to Series

Another book adaptation, this Syfy series is based on the Stephen King novella about a spooky town in (where else?) Maine, where “cursed folk” live normal lives in exile. The curses start coming back, so FBI agent Audrey Parker (Emily Rose) is brought in to help rein them in again, while untangling the mysteries of Haven. The production team all worked on The Dead Zone, so this spooky King territory is second nature for them.

No Ordinary Family ABC Drama

A family of superheroes that stars Michael Chiklis (The Shield).  It revolves around an American family whose members have special abilities.
Julie Benz (Dexter) as the Powell clan’s matriarch, Stephanie, “a gifted scientist who develops a power for superspeed.”
Autumn Reeser   Reeser will play the perky lab assistant to Stephanie, the mother
The father is played by Michael Chiklis.
Romany Malco (“Weeds”) is set as George St. Cloud, the father’s best friend and old college roommate.
Christina Chang (“24″) as Yvonne Cho, “a young police officer who works at the same precinct” as Stephanie’s husband Jim.
Jimmy Bennett (“Star Trek”) and Kay Panabaker (“Summerland”) will round out the Powell clan in the drama pilot, about an average American family that develops extraordinary abilities. They’ll play Stephanie and Jim’s kids, JJ and Daphne.
“Damages” co-star Tate Donovan will play Mitch McCutcheon, the pilot of the family’s plane that crashes into the Amazon River basin. Said event – which sees them all nearly drown in phosphorescent water – triggers their newfound gifts.

Fallen Skies A bold alien-invasion series TNT Drama

From DreamWorks Television and Steven Spielberg that stars Noah Wyle (ER, TNT’s The Librarian movies). The series opens shortly after aliens have wiped out most of the human population. The aliens are now rounding up the few people left, but they are met with strong resistance from a group of soldiers and civilians who fight for their survival – all while struggling to maintain their humanity.

Wyle plays Tom Mason, a former college history professor who becomes the reluctant leader of one of the resistance groups. Also starring in the series are Moon Bloodgood (Terminator Salvation) as Anne Glass, a therapist who works with the surviving children to help them cope with the traumatic situation;
Drew Roy (Lincoln Heights) as Hal and Maxim Knight (Brothers & Sisters) as Matt, Tom’s two sons;
Jessy Schram (Crash) as Karen, who is one of the survivors’ motorcycle scouts; and Seychelle Gabriel (Weeds) as Lourdes, an orphaned teenager who helps run the group’s commissary.

Terra Nova FOX Drama – Script only

Steven Spielberg and Peter Chernin are on track to team for a potential new drama at the network about “a family from 100 years in the future who travel back in time 150 million years to the strange and inhospitable environs of prehistoric Earth.” 20th Century Fox Television is behind the hour, which could be ordered straight to series due to its elaborate sets and visual effects. Craig Silverstein (“Standoff”) and British scribe Kelly Marcel co-wrote the script based on an idea of Marcel’s. Silverstein, whose involvement is in second position to his “Nikita” pilot at The CW, and Marcel then would executive produce alongside Aaron Kaplan, who packaged the project. Spielberg and Chernin have subsequently been courted as executive producers as well, where they would be joined by the former’s DreamWorks Television partners Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank and the latter’s Chernin Entertainment TV topper Katherine Pope.

Brannon Braga has reportedly been tapped as the showrunner of Steven Spielberg’s much-ballyhooed sci-fi drama, about “a family from 100 years in the future who travel back in time 150 million years to prehistoric Earth ruled by dinosaurs.” The project, which is being eyed for a direct-to-series commitment, was penned by Craig Silverstein and Kelly Marcel with Spielberg attached to executive produce alongside Aaron Kaplan, Peter Chernin, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank and Katherine Pope. Last month, Braga inked a two-year, seven-figure overall deal with “Nova” producer 20th Century Fox Television.

The Gates ABC drama Blind 13-episode commitment. See other posts on Links for further news

Drama about a cop who gives up his job in a major city to be chief of police in a planned suburban community, where he discovers there’s more to the residents than meets the eye

Cast is Chandra West as Peg Mueller, Frank Grillo as Nick Monohan, Janina Gavankar as Leigh Turner, Luke Mably as Dylan Radcliff

Marisol Nichols is believed to be playing Nick’s wife, Sarah, “who relocates to the community looking for a fresh start,”
Travis Caldwell as their teen son Charlie.
Skyler Samuels  is set as Andie Bates, a local girl who Charlie quickly falls for.
Colton  Haynes is playing Brett Crezski, Andie’s boyfriend, a star linebacker for the football team who also happens to be a werewolf.
Justin Miles is on board as Brett’s best-friend Lukas Ford, a surfer dude who likewise is a werewolf.
Rohna Mitra as Claire Radcliff, a housewife/vampire who’s not as keen on assimilating as her husband/fellow vampire Dylan (Luke Mably).
Victoria Platt is understood to be playing Peg Mueller, the owner of an exotic/magical tea shop whose less-than-scrupulous pupil Devon (Chandra West) sets up her own shop across the street.
Due this summer.

THE GATES – Nestled inside a private mountain community are The Gates. The image of perpetual suburban bliss, each street is lined with perfectly manicured homes protected by the massive iron gates, but a dark and delicious secret is buried just beneath the surface of this picturesque neighborhood.

Like most families that settle inside The Gates, the Monahans are unmoored from a complicated life they abandoned in Chicago. Named the new police chief of The Gates, Nick Monahan is expecting a change of pace in this quiet suburb. Nick’s wife Sarah and their children Charlie and Dana are embarking on new adventures as well. Their house is to die for, but amidst the excitement, Sarah is still burdened with the revelation that her husband may not be the man she thought he was. Their children Charlie and Dana will also face some challenges of their own. Along with navigating the trials and tribulations of adolescence, they will also face the daunting task of fitting into their new upscale school where their new friends run in tight knit packs.

There’s something very different about this place almost…haunting. Unions will be complicated by friends with an unnatural influence. Insatiable housewives will struggle with ravenous cravings, and teenagers will be cursed with keeping their beastly instincts in check. The Monahans are facing an uncertain fate. Nick is about to be tangled up in a mystery where he will begin to piece together the dark truth about their new home, and the supernatural elements that lurk behind the shadows of The Gates.

“The Gates” stars Frank Grillo as Nick Monohan, Marisol Nichols as Sarah Monahan, Rhona Mitra as Claire Radcliff, Luke Mably as Dylan Radcliff, Travis Caldwell as Charlie Monohan, Skyler Samuels as Andie Bates, Colton Haynes as Brett Crezski, Chandra West as Devon, Victoria Platt as Peg Mueller, Justin Miles as Marcus Jordan, and Janina Gavankar as Leigh Turner. “The Gates” is produced by Fox Television Studios. Series is executive produced by Gina Matthews, and written and executive produced by Grant Scharbo and Richard Hatem.

The Cape NBC Drama

A former cop who was frame decides to don a superhero uniform to clear his name. David Lyons (“ER”) has been tapped as the lead role of the drama pilot, about “a former cop set up as a criminal who becomes a masked hero to clear his name and reunite with his eight-year-old son.” He’ll play Vince Faraday, the aforementioned cop.

Dorian Missick (“Six Degrees”) as Marty Voyt, a former police detective and friend of Vince’s who tries to recruit him to join the Lynx Corporation, an ominous company

James Frain (“The Tudors”) as Peter Fleming, the Chairman and CEO of the Blackwater-esque Lynx Corporation, who moonlights as “Chess,” a murderous villain. Chess is described as wearing a tight black mask in which only his freakish eyes – contact lenses bearing a rook and knight emblem – are visible.

Summer Glau, who has probably starred in more cult sci-fi series than any other actress, with stints on Fox’s “Firefly,” “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” and “Dollhouse,” has joined NBC’s superhero-themed drama pilot “The Cape” in a leading role. Glau will play Orwell, a cute and intrepid investigative blogger who fearlessly goes after corrupt cops and costumed bad guys. And yes, she gets physical and is quite capable of kicking ass (THR)

Jennifer Ferrin (“Life on Mars”) will play Dana Faraday (“pretty, no pushover”), the man’s wife according to tfc

Keith David (“Death at a Funeral”) will play Max Malini, the leader of “The Carnival of Crime” – a group of carnival-themed bank robbers, who becomes Vince’s mentor. His character is further detailed as a showman/magician/escape-artist with “a faded-Errol-Flynn-feel about him.”

Ryan Wynott (“FlashForward”) will play Trip, Vince’s eight-year-old son, whose love of the fictional black-masked-super-hero inspires Vince to become the real thing.
Meanwhile, Vinnie Jones and Martin Klebba are set to guest star . Jones is believed to be playing Dominic Raoul, better known as the villain “Gator,” whose freakish skin condition gives him the appearance of green and gold scales. Klebba then is set as Rollo, the little person strongman in the Carnival of Crime. (tfc)

The Walking Dead AMC - Ordered to series

AMC announced today that they ordered a six episodes arc to be aired in October. The Walking Dead begins production in June in Atlanta.

Frank Darabont writes, directs and produces this adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s masterful zombie apocalypse comic, in which policeman Rick Grimes leads a group of survivors in search of a new home. Gale Ann Hurd (Terminator) is also producing. In the TV version, Grimes is seriously injured in a police incident in south Georgia, going into a coma. When he awakes, he finds that shit has gotten real while he was out. He goes in search of his family, only to find his neighborhood trashed. He finds two survivors, who tell him the government was setting up a “safety zone” in Atlanta. So he heads there alone, to try and find his family.

Jon Bernthal (“Eastwick”) is the first to be cast in the drama pilot, which is based on the Robert Kirkman comic of the same name about a cop and his family trying to survive after a zombie apocalypse. He’ll play Shane Walsh, the man’s partner/best friend, an outgoing bachelor. Frank Darabont is behind the hour, which is set up at Circle of Confusion and Valhalla Motion Pictures.

Andrew Lincoln (“Love Actually”) has been tapped for the lead role in the upcoming drama, which “tells the story of the months and years that follow after a zombie apocalypse.” He’ll play Rick Grimes, a police officer who leads a group of survivors in their search of a safe and secure home.

The production has tapped Laurie Holden (the Shield) for the role of Andrea, a key member of the survivor group who has a proficiency with a sniper rifle and falls for a man twice her age.

Newcomer Steven Yeun has been added to the cast as Glen

Also signing on is Jack LoGiudice (“Sons of Anarchy”) as a co-executive producer.

Our Show (A.K.A. UNTITLED LARRY CHARLES PROJECT) – NBC Comedy

Nate Corddry, Jonathan Sadowski, Dan Bakkedahl and P.J. Byrne have all joined the cast of the comedy pilot, about “a disparate group of people who begin making episodes of their favorite sci-fi show after it ends.” Corddry and Sadowski will play brothers Mike and Jack, who spearhead the group’s efforts. Details on Bakkedahl and Byrne’s characters weren’t released. Larry Charles is helming the Warner Bros. Television/Wonderland Sound and Vision-based presentation off his own treatment

Tyler James Williams (“Everybody Hates Chris”) has scored a role on the comedy pilot. His character wasn’t specified.

Security FOX Comedy

This looks like fun,

Odette Yustman (“October Road”) has scored the female lead on the comedy pilot, about a group of twentysomething geniuses named “Titan Team” who crack security systems. She’s set as Melanie Green, “a bad girl who oozes sexy” who specializes in lock picking, safe cracking and demolition. Alphonso McAuley and Bret Harrison also star in the Sony Pictures Television-based half-hour, which comes from director Seth Gordon and writer Adam F. Goldberg.

Drama

ATF – CBS Drama

Centers on an ATF agent who hunts down the most dangerous criminals while trying to balance life as a dad to his teenage daughter who has re-entered his life. “Nip/Tuck” co-star Dylan Walsh has booked the lead role on the drama pilot, about “an ATF agent who hunts down the most dangerous criminals while trying to balance life as a father to the teenage daughter who has re-entered his life.” He’ll play the man in question, Jack Donovan, “a special agent with ATF long enough to consider it a lifetime commitment and had spent ten years prior to that with the Chicago PD.”

Chaos CBS Drama

Ragtag group of CIA operatives ensnared by backstabbing and beaucratic snafus. Stars Freddy Rodriguez (Grindhouse).
Tim Blake Nelson (“The Incredible Hulk”) is the latest addition to the drama pilot, about “a group of rogue CIA operatives combating bureaucratic gridlock, rampant incompetence and political infighting.” He’s on board as Operative Michael Dorset, “a trained psychologist turned Core Collector… a man that has little regard for fools in a world he perceives to be chock full of fools.”
Freddy Rodriguez and James Murray also star. Brett Ratner is directing from a script by Tom Spezialy.
Eric Close is returning to the Eye as the “Without a Trace” alum has joined the cast. He’s believed to be playing Michael Dorset, the leader of the Office Of Disruptive Services team. He’s billed as “a trained psychologist [who] has little regard for fools in a world he perceives to be chock full of fools.”?

Carmen Ejogo (“Kidnapped”) has booked the sole female role as seasoned CIA analyst Fay Carson, “a woman that exudes the rare combination of extreme confidence and great warmth – rendering her infinitely crush-worthy.” according to tfc

Stephen Rea (“Father & Son”) has booked the final principal role on the drama pilot. He’ll play Director Higgins, the head of Clandestine Administration and Oversight Services (C.A.O.S.) who “approaches his job the same way a politician approaches a microphone – calibrating his every word.”

Nomads CW Drama

Group of free-spirited youths backpacking through other countries agree to perform secret missions for CIA. The group consist of

• Zack (Luke Ford)
• Nadia (Gabriella Wright)
• Donna (Michaela McManus)
• John (Scott Porter)

“Friday Night Lights” alum Scott Porter has been tapped as the male lead on the drama pilot presentation, He’ll play one of them, John Virgil, who’s haunted by the disappearance of his brother Kirk.

One Tree Hill alum Michaela McManus has scored the female lead in Nomads according to cw.com. McManus will play a brave and resourceful Army Brat, who grew up  Korea, Okinawa and Germany that passed on an analyst desk at the Clandestine Service in order to prove herself as a potential field agent, determined to earn a place in the CIA. She finds herself fighting an attraction to her handler (Mental’s Warren Kole) and a fellow agent-in-training (Friday Night Lights‘ Scott Porter).

Warren Kole (“Mental”) will play Ryker, the group’s handler, who’s “well-dressed, perfectly average to the edge of bland looking… but with hard, authoritative eyes.”

Elevate-repped Gabriella Wright has been cast. Gabriella Wright (“The Tudors”) has booked the final principal role on the drama presentation. She’ll play one of them, Nadia, who’s “Eastern European; young, beautiful, eyes wearing the dark humor of an old soul without hardening.” (thr+tfc)

Production is set to begin shortly on location in Thailand

Luke Ford (“McLeod’s Daughters”) will play Zack Morgan, “a shaggy blonde 20′s Aussie surfer dude with the good nature (and sex drive) of a Labrador Retriever.”

Hawaii Five-O CBS Drama
I loved the canceled vampire show Moonlight. Looks like a good intresting cast.

An update of the popular ’60s drama about Hawaii State Police that stars Daniel Dae Kim (Lost), Alex O’Loughlin (Moonlight), and Taryn Manning (Sons of Anarchy). The updated take on the original series centers on an elite branch of the Hawaii State Police headed by Steve McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin). Manning will play McGarrett’s younger sister, Mary Ann McGarrett. The actress, who co-starred on the 2005 movie “Hustle & Flow,” joins O’Loughlin and “Lost’s” Daniel Dae Kim, who will play Detective Chin Ho Kelly.
Grace Park (“The Cleaner”) will play Kono Kalakaua, the niece of Daniel Dae Kim’s character, “a beautiful and smart champion surfer who is about to graduate from the police academy when McGarrett recruits her to join his team.”
Emmy-nominee Jean Smart (“24″) as Governor Pat Jameson, who taps McGarrett to form “a federalized unit empowered by the Patriot act, with full blanket authority to hunt big game and get ‘em the hell off [her] island.” Her character is further detailed as “a rather beautiful woman in her early 40′s; local Hawaiian with a Washingtonian’s backbone, she’s a unique mix of brilliance, grace, and compassion.”  (tfc)

I Witness CBS Drama

A rollover from 2009, this drama pilot focuses on a detective-cum-professor who uses special mind skills to solve crimes. CSI pedigree.

The Rememberer CBS Drama – Postphoned

About a female NYPD detective with a razor-sharp memory.
The Eye has postponed production on the drama pilot, about a female FBI agent who remembers everything, which helps her career but makes for turmoil in her personal life. Said decision is tied to difficulties casting the lead, Carrie Wells, who’s detailed as “mid 30s, loose black curls, pale cheeks with a hint of freckle [and] enormous luminous violet eyes, intensely focused, hyper-alert.” according to tfc

Untitled Medical Project CBS Drama

I must admitt I enjoyed Medical Investigation (canceled after the first season) and if this is anything like it, and without as much tetosteron as MI I would love this show.

A drama about a mobile medical team that stars Amy Smart (Crank).  Twilight bloodsucker Rachelle Lefevre has joined the cast. The project revolves around a team of medical professionals who travel the U.S. helping those in desperate need of assistance. It’s ER on wheels! Lefevre’s character, Katy, is described as a smart and confident medical road warrior who’s more comfortable working in the field than in the office. The cast also includes Amy Smart. Lefevre is also known for her recurring roles on What About Brian, Boston Legal, and Swingtown.  She’s understood to be playing Katy, “a confident young doctor more comfortable in the field than in the office.”
Janeane Garofalo will play Angel, “the glue of the team, a nurse coordinator and operations manager.”
Jay Hernandez (“Six Degrees”) as Paul O’Brian (“handsome and preppy”), the group’s OB/GYN
Michael Beach (“Stargate: Atlantis”) as Pen Favinger, “a cowboy type with a big heart.”
Skeet Ulrich (“Jericho”) has booked the male lead. He’ll play Billy Jost, “a Harvard-educated brilliant cardiologist with rock star looks who embraces the tumult of frequent volunteer missions to escape the hell of his personal life.
Sissy Spacek has been tapped as the lead Adrianne (“55, with the body of a 30-year-old Triathelete”). It centers on a mobile team of volunteer doctors led by a driven visionary (Spacek) that travels the world and the U.S. helping those in need. Deeply committed to her work, Spacek’s character, originally envisioned as a man, works around the clock, and expects her team to do likewise. Complicating things is her own cancer diagnosis, which requires agonizing chemo treatments at regular intervals, as well as her physician daughter’s (Rachelle Lefevre) decision to join the team.The name of the lead character on the CBS medical drama pilot will similarly be changed from Adrian to Adrianne for Spacek. (thr)

The Event NBC Drama picked up for series according to thr.com Read further news on Links

Don’t think this is a science fiction in any way, but it might be watchable. Does Jason Ritter’s casting here mean what I think? Will Life Unexpected be canceled soon?

A thriller about a regular Joe caught up in a large conspiracy. Zeljko Ivanek (“Damages”) and Ian Anthony Dale (“Day Break”) have both joined the cast of the drama pilot, about Sean (Jason Ritter), “a regular man fighting his way through the mysterious circumstances of a conspiracy to assassinate the U.S. president.” Ivanek is set as Blake Sterling, the “fervid and brash” director of the CIA, with Dale as Dan Taylor, a “government operative assisting Sean in thwarting the assassination attempt who might have ulterior motives.”
Scott Patterson (“Gilmore Girls”) and Sarah Roemer (“Fired Up!”) have both signed. She’ll play Sean’s girlfriend, Leila Gasiorowski, “an MIT-educated biochemist who disappears as part of the conspiracy to force her father, Mark Gasiorowski (Patterson, described as “affable, Marlboro Man good looks”), an airline pilot, to crash an airliner into the presidential retreat.”.
Laura Innes is believed to be playing the leader of the inmates at the Mount Inostranka Facility, a secret prison in Alaska. Said role, Neil McCann, was originally written as male.
Blair Underwood (“Dirty Sexy Money”) has been tapped as the president on the drama pilot, “a thriller with a unique storytelling device that features multiple points of view concerning a decent, regular fellow who battles against mysterious circumstances that envelope a larger conspiracy.” His role, Elias Martinez, a family man who wants to fight the good fight, was originally written for a Hispanic man. (efc)
Wes Ramsey (“CSI: Miami”) and Taylor Cole (“Heroes”) have both landed roles. While not indicated, they’re believed to be playing Greg and Vicky, a couple who Sean and Leila befriend while on vacation that may have ulterior motives.
Nick Wauters is behind the hour, which is set up at Universal Media Studios.

187 Detroit ABC Drama
I like lighthearted we have to much dour darkness for my liking

A light-hearted look at Detroit’s top homicide division. Natalie Martinez stars. revolves around Detroit’s top homicide division as seen through the cameras of a fictitious documentary crew. Martinez will play a tough detective. D.J. Cotrona (“Windfall”) will play “John Smith,” an undercover detective. It also stars Aisha Hinds, John Michael Hill. Jeff Nachmanoff is helming the project from a script by Jason Richman.
Michael Imperioli (“Life on Mars”) has booked the lead role as play Joseph Fitch, “a smart, tough-minded veteran detective with a short fuse who has a near-perfect record for clearing cases and putting murderers in cages.” according to tfc
James McDaniel (“NYPD Blue”), Shaun Majumder (“Unhitched”) and Erin Cummings (“Spartacus: Blood and Sand”) will round out of the cast. McDaniel will play Sgt. Jesse “Long Haul” Longford, a 30-year veteran, with Majumder as his partner, Det. Aman Majan, himself a seven-year vet. Cummings then is believed to be playing the sole remaining female role, Dr. Shelby Cork, “a pretty woman (35) but looks like 25… cat glasses, hipster vibe, last thing you’re thinking is Medical Examiner.

Body of Evidence ABC Drama
It have to be exceptional to register there are so many similar shows out there. I loved Crossing Jordan and the Examiner that’s why I included it.

A procedural about a female medical examiner who used to work as a neurosurgeon. John Carroll Lynch (“K-Ville”), Windell Middlebrooks (“Scrubs”) and Geoffrey Arend (“Trust Me”) are the first to be cast in the drama pilot, about Dr. Megan Hunt, “a brilliant and tenacious neurosurgeon-turned-medical examiner.” Lynch will play Bud Morris, a detective who initially butts heads with Hunt. Middlebrooks then is set as Dr. Semo Solomona, the Deputy Chief Medical Examiner (originally written for “a Samoan man whose girth brings new meaning to ‘throwing his weight around the office.’”). Rounding out the trio is Arend as Dr. Elliot Gross, “boyish, geeky in an endearing way, and utterly non-threatening,” another doctor at the ME’s office. Chris Murphey penned the hour, which is set up at ABC Studios.
Sonja Sohn (“The Wire”) as Samantha Baker, one of the detectives who regularly works with Hunt, who’s “eager and bright but used to taking the back seat.”

Cutthroat ABC Drama

A dramedy about a single mother who operates an international drug cartel from Beverly Hills. Roselyn Sanchez (“Without a Trace”) has been cast as the lead in the ABC pilot she’ll play the “drop dead gorgeous” Nina Cabrera an upscale Beverly Hills widow and soccer mom who runs an international drug cartel. Weeds ripoff anyone?
Peggy Lipton (“Crash”) as Sandy, Nina’s mother, a former Miss California.
Escher Holloway (“Choose Connor”) as Ivan, Nina’s 16-year-old stepson.
Jon Seda (“The Pacific”) as Frankie, Nina’s stylish cousin and second in command according to tfc
Sarah Wynter (“Damages”) as Sophia, a Hollywood mom whom Nina befriends and helps take care of her cheating, soon-to-be ex husband, who refuses to move out of the house. (tfc)
Real-life siblings Teo and Isa Briones have joined the cast. They’ll play her kids, five-year-old Alex and 12-year-old Lily. (tfc)

Matadors ABC Drama

A drama focusing on two long-feuding families in Chicago that stars David Strathairn (The Bourne Ultimatum). One of which populates the Chicago District Attorney’s office and the other in the city’s most influential private law firm. “The Forgotten” co-star Michelle Borth has landed the female lead in ABC’s drama pilot “The Matadors,” with Jonathan Scarfe also nabbing a lead role in the pilot. “Matadors,” from Sony TV, is a Romeo-and-Juliet-style drama about two feuding families’ battle against each other as one populates the state attorney’s office and the other manages an influential private law firm. Borth will play the heroine, Juliana, a talented lawyer who joins her father in the state attorney’s office and embarks on a secret affair with Alex (Zach Gilford), an heir of the rival family who works at his father’s firm. Scarfe (“Raising the Bar”) will play Alex’s brother, a skilled defense attorney who would rather win a case for a guilty client and collect his earnings than concern himself with serving justice.

True Blue ABC Drama

Homicide detectives in San Francisco reunite to solve the murder of a former co-worker. Cast includes Poppy Montgomery (Without a Trace). “Without a Trace” alumna Poppy Montgomery and Marc Blucas are set as leads on the ABC drama pilot “True Blue.”  revolves around six former best friends who rose through the ranks at the San Francisco Police Department and reunite to solve the murder of one of their own. Montgomery plays one of the six, the only female police captain in San Francisco, who was once married to another member of the team (Blucas), a detective.
Eric Lange (“Lost”) and Malcolm-Jamal Warner (“Sherri”) have both joined the cast. Lange will play the murdered cop’s “rumpled, cynical” partner, Malcolm Gold, with Warner as Walker McRae, a detective on suspension. Tricia Helfer (“Battlestar Galactica”) has joined the cast.
“Ugly Betty” alumna Ana Ortiz is staying on ABC with a lead role on the network’s drama pilot “True Blue” as plays a civilian secretary at the precinct according to thr
Scott Foley (“The Unit”) as Peter Callahan (“mid-30s, moviestar good looks, Italian suit”), now an Assistant District Attorney (tfc).

Rachael Carpani (“McLeod’s Daughters”) will play Tess Flynn, the chirpy new partner of Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s character whom he dubs “Veronica Mars.”
Scott Elrod (“Men in Trees”) as Kevin Ulster, the murdered cop in question.
Malaya Rivera Drew (“The L Word”) as Mia Sherman, Kevin’s sometimes lover.
Titus Welliver (“The Good Wife”) as John Leeson, her slick ex-husband and the prime suspect in Kevin’s murder.

Finest (Untitled Richard Hatem project) ABC Drama

Sounds a lot like a Life remake. I love Life and Katee Sackhoff so this show is in.

A female detective teams with a disgraced ex-cop to solve crimes and untangle the conspiracy that sent him underground. According to thefutoncritic.com Katee Sackhoff(‘Starbuck’ in BSG) will be landing her own TV cop show at ABC later in the year. She’ll play, Julia Scott, who’s “strong in body and soul.” Katee Sackhoff is doing a stint on 24 at the moment.
Will Yun Lee as will play the ex-cop’s close friend, a Chinese restaurant owner according to thr.
“Finest” centers on Julia (Katee Sackhoff), a detective who teams with disgraced ex-cop Angus (Goran Visnjic) to solve crimes and untangle the conspiracy that sent him underground. Wiles, repped by Paradigm and Brillstein, will play Julia’s boyfriend, who forms a love triangle with her and Angus. (thr)

Rizzoli & Isleys TNT Drama

(working title), a crime drama starring Angie Harmon (Law & Order, Women’s Murder Club) and Sasha Alexander (NCIS), based on Tess Gerritsen’s popular mystery novels and produced for TNT by Warner Horizon Television and Ostar Productions.

Oscar-nominated Chazz Palminteri has joined TNT’s upcoming drama series Rizzoli & Isles as a recurring. Rizzoli & Isles is based on characters from the novels of Tess Gerritsen and is about Det. Jane Rizzoli (Angie Harmon), a Boston Homicide detective that works with Medical Examiner Maura Isles (Sasha Alexander). Palminteri will play Jane’s father. Lorraine Bracco plays her mother and Jordan Bridges her younger brother.

Code 58 FOX Drama

(name tbd) - That would be Fox’s session for Code 58, an odd couple action-comedy co-starring Bradley Whitford of West Wing fame and Colin Hanks (Mad Men), son of Tom Hanks. A mustache helps to make the character appropriately seedier, said Whitford, who initially grew it for a similar role in the NBC pilot Off Duty, which the network passed on. “Women are very creeped out,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s Boogie Nights or what . . . My kids hate it.” Code 58 is the Dallas police code for supposedly routine investigations. But it’s billed as a working title, and likely will be changed. “In Japan, we’re hoping they’re going to call it ‘Opposite Buddy Cop Show,’ ” Hanks cracked.
Whitford describes the series as “the lighter side of lecher-ism and alcoholism.” Producer Nix says Dallas is a terrific playground for whatever scrapes his two lead cops get themselves into. On a “fairly typical day,” according to Fox press materials, Stark and Jack Bailey (Hanks’ character) are on the case of a stolen humidifier when they inadvertently get involved in a shootout over a pilfered golf bag belonging to a dangerous drug smuggler. “You walk around there (Dallas) and think Starsky and Hutch or T.J. Hooker,” Nix said. “It’s a great city to jump on the hood of a car.” “And Tijuana was unavailable,” Whitford noted. An action-packed buddy-cop show about two mismatched outcasts in the police department who are clawing their way to the middle.
Cast: Colin Hanks (Jack), Bradley Whitford (Dan), Diana Maria Riva (Lt. Anderson), Jenny Wade (Liz)

Comedy

Beach Lane NBC Comendy
Riding Royal Pains success, eh?

A multi-camera comedy starring Matthew Broderick as a celebrity author hired by a Richie Rich to run a small town newspaper in the Hamptons.

Patton Oswalt has departed the comedy pilot, about a celebrity author (Matthew Broderick) hired by an irresponsible millionaire heir (Oswalt) to run his struggling small-town newspaper in the Hamptons. Said development comes within days of Oswalt’s casting. No reason was given for the decision however producers reportedly have also offered the comedian a different part. Aimee Garcia, Henry Zebrowski and Kristen Johnston also star in the Universal Media Studios-based half-hour, which comes from creator Paul Simms and Broadway Video Television.

Friends with Benefits NBC Comedy

A single-camera comedy about five friends who are on the lookout for perfect mates but willing to temporarily settle on friends with benefits.
Fran Kranz (“Dollhouse”) is the first to be cast as one of the quintet, “a nerdy but cute hopeless romantic who is worth $12 million after selling an algorithm to Google.”
Patrick J. Adams (“Weather Girl”) as Ben and Danneel Harris (“One Tree Hill”) as Sara, significant others who are still looking for their ideal mates.
Ian Reed Kessler (“The Loop”) is the latest addition to the comedy pilot, about a quartet of friends “looking for ‘the one’ but in the meantime settling for ‘friends with benefits.’” He’ll play one of the group, “an oversexed, sometimes crass womanizer.”

Described as “an inverse When Harry Met Sally,” one insider simply said that “it’s pretty much what you’d expect from a spec script that was originally entitled Fuckbuddies.” So there will be buddies and they will be going to town on each others nether regions. Meriwether is one of the members (the youngest in fact) of a group of female writers known as the “Fempire.” This elite group consists of Dana Fox (What Happens in Vegas), Diablo Cody (Juno, Jennifer’s Body) and Lorene Scafaria (Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist)

Jessica Lucas (“Melrose Place”) will round out the show’s central quintet. Details about her character however weren’t specified. Lucas’s involvement is presumably in second position to the CW soap, which isn’t expected to return.

“Veronica Mars” alum Ryan Hansen has been tapped to lead the cast of NBC’s comedy pilot “Friends With Benefits,” Hansen replaces Patrick J. Adams, originally cast in the role. (thr) He’ll play Ben, “an Everyman who, while waiting for Ms. Perfect, enjoys a relationship with Sara (Danneel Harris), a doctor trying to find Mr. Right.” (tfc)

Hitched CBS Comedy

Comedy about a twentysomething newlywed couple(Kristin Kreuk Sara Fletcher, Jack Carpenter) navigating their new life together. Kurtwood Smith (“Worst Week”) is returning to the Eye as the veteran actor has scored a role on the comedy pilot. He’ll play Rachel’s (Kreuk) father, Wally Reynolds, who’s “the epitome of loving and solid… and nosy.” Smith joins the previously cast Eugene Levy. In addition, Rob Greenberg (“How I Met Your Mother”) has been tapped to helm the half-hour from a script by co-creators Josh Schwartz and Matt Miller. Warner Bros. Television is producing.

Thomas Middleditch (“Splinterheads”) has scored a role in the comedy pilot, about a newlyweds (Kristin Kreuk, Jack Carpenter) dealing with their family and friends. He’s on board as Zarnow, their hopelessly single best friend who’s always seen wearing a vintage T-shirt, a vest and a fedora.

Riki Lindhome is on board as Shari Ratner, the bride’s best friend, “a ball buster” whose husband never speaks.

Sara Fletcher (“Secret Girlfriend”) has reportedly joined the cast of the comedy pilot, about a twentysomething newlywed couple navigating their new life together. She’ll, in a last-minute recasting, take over as the female lead, Rachel Reynolds. Fletcher replaces Kristin Kreuk, who was cast back in February.

Mr. Sunshine ABC Comedy

Matthew Perry (Friends) stars as a self-absorbed manager of a sports arena. Cast also includes Allison Janney (The West Wing) and Andrea Anders (Better Off Ted).

Portia Doubleday (“Youth in Revolt”) will play Ben’s assistant Heather (“blonde, very pretty, very sweet”)
James Lesure (“Las Vegas”)as Alonzo (“athletic, handsome, unbelievably happy”), a former basketball star whose sunny disposition annoys Ben.

About Ben (Matthew Perry), a self-involved manager of a second-rate sports arena who begins to reevaluate his life on his 40th birthday.

Open Books CBS Comedy
I can’t miss a show about books!

Centers around a female book editor; stars Laura Benanti (Eli Stone) as June Gage.
Patti LuPone (“Oz”) is the latest addition to the comedy pilot, about June Gage, a book editor at a boutique New York publishing house and her circle of friends. She’ll play Roz, June’s “tough cookie” mom.
Kevin Rahm has been added to CBS’ comedy pilot Open Books as Dale, the woman’s “kind, levelheaded, dryly witty” fiancee. (thr)
Gail Lerner is behind it.

Aisha Tyler will play Lydia, June’s best friend, libidinous, glamorous, waitress-actress.
Scott (True Blue) will guest star as Dylan Fargo (“scruffy-hot, eternally bemused”), a writer who once had a fling with June.

The Odds CBS Drama/Comedy
I did enjoyed Donald Faison in early Scrubs before they lost their soul.

A buddy cop show set in Las Vegas. Stars Donald Faison (Scrubs) and Sullivan Stapleton, revolves around cops in Las Vegas who are just as outrageous as the crimes they solve.  Faison will play Tyler, the new lead homicide detective who took over for the recently demoted Wade (Sullivan Stapleton).
Jacob Vargas (“Moonlight”) has scored a role on the drama pilot. He’s on board as one of them, Sergio Vargas, “the resident wise-ass and a former gangbanger (with the tats to prove it).

The Strip NBC Comedy
Sounds quirky enough for me.

A multi-camera comedy about a former child star who owns a bar outside of Las Vegas. Carrie Wiita is the latest “Reno 911!” alum to score a role on the comedy pilot, about “a former child star turned Hooters-style bar owner on the outskirts of Las Vegas.” She’s believed to be playing Ashley, a “perky and cute-as-a-button” waitress at Bubba Jr’s, said establishment. Also signing on is Andrea Savage (“Dog Bites Man”) as Ashley’s “kinda hot, in a trailer park way” roommate Jackie, who applies to work at the bar. Cedric Yarbrough, Dave Holmes, Natasha Leggero and co-creators Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon also star in it.

This Little Piggy NBC Comedy
I like the name hope it is funny.

A multi-camera family comedy about father of two who opens up his home to his irresponsible sister and shallow brother. Ben Koldyke (“How I Met Your Mother”) is set to topline the comedy pilot, about “a family man forced to take in his two adult siblings, who have fallen on hard times.” He’ll play Henry Graham. Kevin Rahm originated the role in its previous incarnation at ABC.
Brooke Bloom (“CSI: Miami”) as Janet, the man’s flighty sister
Vanessa Minnillo (“True Beauty”) as Tina, the wife of Henry’s materialistic brother Eric. Rebecca Creskoff and Brandy Norwood originated said roles in its previous incarnation at ABC. Erinn Hayes also stars in the ABC Studios-based half-hour, which comes from co-creators Brian Bradley and Steven Cragg. Ted Wass is directing.

Nick D’Agosto (“Heroes”) has landed the final principal role on the comedy pilot, about two adult siblings who move in with their eldest brother Henry (Ben Koldyke) after he inherits his parents’ large, rambling Portland, Oregon house. He’ll play Eric, Henry’s materialistic brother, who – along with his wife Tina (Vanessa Minnillo) – lost everything and needs a place to stay. Jeff Davis originated the role in the comedy’s ABC incarnation.

The Pink House NBC Comedy

A multi-camera comedy about college graduates who flee Los Angeles to start a life elsewhere.

Michael Cassidy (“Privileged”) has booked one of the lead roles on the comedy pilot, about “two Midwestern guys who move to Los Angeles and rent a house on the beach.” He’ll play one of them, either John “Fitz” Fitzgerald or Rob “Bernie” Burnett, both of whom are described as in their “twenties, handsome and in good shape.”
Katharine McPhee also stars.

Ashley Madekwe (“Secret Diary of a Call Girl”) will play Jamie (“tall, thin and beautiful”), one of the guys’ neighbors, who moved to Los Angeles from Atlanta “to meet a super rich guy, marry him and have his babies.”

Zach Cregger has been cast in NBC’s “The Pink House” comedy pilot (thr)

True Love CBS Comedy

A multi-camera comedy about four New York friends that stars Minka Kelly (Friday Night Lights) and Ashley Austin Morris (The Electric Company) Lizzy Caplan.

Jason Biggs (“My Best Friend’s Girl”), Dan Fogler (“Balls of Fury”) and Sarah Wright (“The Loop”) have each landed roles in the comedy pilot, about a group of twentysomethings in New York looking for love. He’ll play one of them, Henry Parr, a lawyer who’s billed “Prince Charming” by the local papers after talking down a jumper from the top of the Empire State Building. Fogler then is set as Larry Meyer (“chubby, bearded, and looking miserable”), Henry’s best-friend and co-worker. Rounding out the cast then is Wright as Tiffany McDermott (“very young, Playboy Playmate type”), the nanny of Ashley Austin Morris’s Lizzy Caplan character. Minka Kelly and Hal Williams also star in the half-hour, which Pamela Fryman is helming off a script by Matt Tarses. CBS Television Studios, FanFare Productions and Sony Pictures Television are producing.

Tyler Labine (“Sons of Tucson”) has signed onto the comedy pilot. He’s on board as Larry Meyer (“chubby, bearded, and looking miserable”), Henry’s (Jason Biggs) best-friend and co-worker. Labine, whose involvement is in second position to the FOX comedy, replaces Dan Fogler who was previously cast in the role.

Lizzy Caplan is set as a lead. Caplan, billed as a guest star, replaces Ashley A. Morris, originally cast in the role. The switch follows the recent recasting of Larry, with Labine in for Dan Fogler. Caplan co-stars on Starz’s “Party Down” and appears in the MGM feature “Hot Tub Time Machine.”

Sources: Google is your friend, imdb.com, wikipedia.com, tv.com, thefutoncritic.com, spoilertv.com, ew.com, bscreview.com, io9.com to mention a few.