The Peacock is clearly trying to get the jump on next week’s Upfronts with some early series orders. The advantage of early announcements, even apart from the possibility that NBC will launch some of its new shows in August post-Olympics, is that it enables the production studios to make quick offers to writers they’d like on staff, ideally tying them up before other networks can grab them (and/or drive up their price).
The latest round includes a 3rd comedy (after Go On and Save Me), and the network’s 1st drama order, both of which have big kahuna producers behind them:
THE NEW NORMAL was always considered a strong possibility for pick-up. The show, produced by 20th Television, is co-written by Ryan Murphy (of Glee and An American Horror Story fame) and Allison Adler, a Co-Executive Producer on Glee as well as No Ordinary Family and Chuck. The single-camera sitcom is about a gay couple (Justin Bartha and Andrew Rannells) who hire a surrogate (Georgia King) to have their baby. The cast also includes Ellen Barkin as the surrogate’s grandmother.
Alcatraz is probably dead, but J.J. Abrams will have a new show on the air: REVOLUTION (that’s its current title, anyway). The show, written by Supernatural‘s Eric Kripke, has a plotline that sounds a bit like the late lamented Jericho, with a family struggling in a post-apocalyptic world where modern technology no longer works. The cast includes Billy Burke, Tim Guinee (the good-daddy investigator on The Good Wife), Andrea Roth (Rescue Me) and Giancarlo Esposito (the one and only Gus Fring from Breaking Bad). The pilot was directed by Iron Man‘s Jon Favreau, and the production studio is Warner Bros Television.
More is undoubtedly to come, so stay tuned…
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About the Author
Mitch Salem
MITCH SALEM has worked on the business side of the entertainment industry for 20 years, as a senior business affairs executive and attorney for such companies as NBC, ABC, USA, Syfy, Bravo, and BermanBraun Productions, and before that, at the NY law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. During all that, he has more or less constantly been going to the movies and watching TV, and writing about both since the 1980s. His film reviews also currently appear on screened.com and the-burg.com. In addition, he is co-writer of an episode of the television series "Felicity."
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