BattleBots Network: ABC Production Company: Whalerock Industries Executive Producer(s): Mack Anderson, Bradley Anderson, Debbie Liebling, Lloyd Braun Logline: Series that features fights between BattleBots, homemade remote-controlled mechanical robots in a variety of weight classes that fight to the "death" in a 48' by 48' "Thunderdome-like" arena constructed of shatterproof glass rising nearly 20 feet. SSN Insight: Comedy Central ended the series twelve years ago. ABC is picking it back up for a six-episode summer series.
Big Family Mansion Network: ITV 1 Production Company: Plimsoll Productions Executive Producer(s): Grant Mansfield Logline: The show challenges a family to live under the same roof with their extended family for one month. They will need to establish family rules and negotiate everything from dividing up bedrooms, voting on meal times, assigning cleaning duties and child care arrangements. At the end of the month, they must decide whether they would ever move in permanently together or go their separate ways. SSN Insight: Project stems from Grant Mansfield’s 16-month-old reality company Plimsoll Productions, based in Bristol and London, with offices soon to open in Santa Monica. Former Discovery Channel executive Andrew Jackson is also on board as as EVP of International Production, with the goal of developing the company’s U.S. expansion strategy.
Cheerleader Death Squad Network: CW Television Network Studio: CBS Television Studios Production Company: Cherry/Wind Productions Executive Producer(s): Neal Baer, Daniel Truly, Marc Cherry, Sabrina Wind Writer(s): Marc Cherry, Neal Baer, Daniel Truly Logline: When a disgraced CIA agent-turned-teacher at an elite Washington D.C. prep school realizes that his students have high-level access through personal connections, he trains a select few to be his eyes and ears into the world of international espionage and help him earn his way back into the agency. SSN Insight: The CW ordered the pilot on February 3. Bauer had an overall deal at CBS Television.
Colony Network: USA Network Studio: Universal Cable Productions Production Company: Legendary Entertainment Executive Producer(s): Carlton Cuse, Ryan Condal Writer(s): Carlton Cuse, Ryan Condal Logline: In 2015, Los Angeles exists in a state of occupation. Some collaborate with the alien authorities and benefit from the new order, while others rebel and suffer the consequences. A family is torn by those opposing forces, making difficult choices as they balance keeping their family together with the struggle of the human race. SSN Insight: USA ordered the pilot on July 28 and ordered 10 episodes on February 3.
Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life Network: Fox Broadcasting Company Studio: 20th Century Fox Television Production Company: The Jackal Group Executive Producer(s): Jay Lacopo, Gail Berman Writer(s): Jay Lacopo Logline: Celebrates the mistakes and misadventures we all make during the years after college. SSN Insight: Fox ordered the pilot on February 2. This is The Jackal Group’s first pilot order, the independent production venture launched last summer by Fox Networks Group and Berman.
Cordon Network: CW Television Network Studio: Warner Bros. Television Production Company: No Production Company Available. Executive Producer(s): Julie Plec, David Nutter Writer(s): Julie Plec, David Nutter Logline: When a deadly epidemic breaks out in Atlanta, a large city quarantine is quickly enforced, leaving those stuck on the inside to fight for their lives. Loved ones are tragically torn apart, and the society that grows inside the cordon reveals both the devolution of humanity and the birth of unlikely heroes. Details: Based on the original Belgian series "Cordon" which was created by Carl Joos and aired in 2014. SSN Insight: The CW ordered the pilot on February 2.
Dead People Network: CW Television Network Studio: Warner Bros. Television Production Companies: Bad Robot, Aggressive Mediocrity, Inc Executive Producer(s): Tom Kapinos, J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk Writer(s): Tom Kapinos Logline: A roguishly charming, barely-famous former musician is shot dead and miraculously comes back to life with a newfound purpose: helping troubled ghosts find peace through unconventional ways. SSN Insight: The CW ordered the pilot on February 2.
Insecure Network: HBO Production Company: 3 Arts Entertainment Executive Producer(s): Larry Wilmore, Erwin Stoff, Dave Becky, Issa Rae, Michael Rotenberg Writer(s): Larry Wilmore, Issa Rae Logline: Focuses on the awkward experiences and racy tribulations of a modern day African-American woman. SSN Insight: The show will have the same themes Rae focused on in her successful webseries, The Misadventures Of Awkward Black Girl, which won a Shorty Award. The project was originally set up at HBO in summer 2013. HBO ordered the pilot on February 4.
MTV/ Untitled Jill Soloway/ Lyle Friedman/ Ashley Skidmore Comedy Project Network: MTV Production Company: Brillstein Entertainment Partners Executive Producer(s): Jill Soloway, Robin Schwartz Writer(s): Jill Soloway, Lyle Friedman, Ashley Skidmore Logline: Two young girls meet at summer camp and bond over their passion for second-wave feminism. During a wild night in the forest both girls are struck by lightning and their friendship, power and destiny is fatefully sealed. Now, 10 years later, they romp around town hell-bent on saving all of womankind (if only they could save themselves first). SSN Insight: “Lyle and Ashley have a magical ability to tap into the female psyche, and through their own special brand of truth and humor they absolve us of our most humiliating moments,” Soloway said in an interview with Deadline. “I’m so excited to godmother this show and bring Lyle and Ashley’s fresh take on lady power to MTV.”
NBC/ Untitled Aseem Batra Comedy Project Network: NBC Entertainment Studio: Universal Television Production Company: No Production Company Available. Executive Producer(s): Aseem Batra, Joe Russo, Anthony Russo Writer(s): Aseem Batra Logline: The story is a politically incorrect office comedy centered on best friends Dale and Georgie whose relationship is upended when he starts dating the "perfect" woman. SSN Insight: NBC ordered to pilot on February 4.
Quarry Network: Cinemax Production Company: Anonymous Content Executive Producer(s): Graham Gordy, Michael Fuller, John Hillcoat, Ken Levin, Max Allan Collins Writer(s): Graham Gordy, Michael Fuller, Jennifer Schuur, Max Allan Collins Logline: Mac Conway, a Marine who returns home to Memphis from Vietnam in 1972, finds himself shunned by those he loves and demonized by the public. As he struggles to cope with his experiences at war, Conway is drawn into a network of killing and corruption that spans the length of the Mississippi River. Details: Based on the series of novels written by Max Allan Collins, with the first novel "Quarry" published by Perfect Crime Books on November 1, 2010. SSN Insight: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Stellan Skarsgard and Noah Taylor were previously attached to star. Cinemax has ordered 8 episodes.
Queen Sugar Network: OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network Production Company: Harpo Studios Executive Producer(s): Ava DuVernay, Oprah Winfrey Writer(s): Ava DuVernay Logline: A spirited woman leaves her upscale Los Angeles lifestyle behind to claim an inheritance from her recently departed father an 800-acre sugar cane farm in the heart of Louisiana. Her world and identity are turned upside down as she and her teenage daughter attempt to navigate a new and very different environment while rebuilding their farm from scratch. She is met with curiosity and community, with resistance and romance. It isn’t long before a transformation begins and she realizes that she’s been living a lot farther from her Southern roots than mere miles. Details: Inspired by the novel, "Queen Sugar: A Novel," written by Natalie Baszile and published by Pamela Dorman Books/Viking in 2014. SSN Insight: OWN Ordered to series on February 2. Per an interview with Deadline Winfrey said, “The story’s themes of reinventing your life, parenting alone, family connections and conflicts, and building new relationships are what I believe will connect our viewers to this show.”
Tales From the Darkside Network: CW Television Network Studio: CBS Television Studios Production Company: K/O Paper Products Executive Producer(s): Joe Hill, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Mitchell Galin, Heather Kadin Writer(s): Joe Hill Logline: Based on the 1984 series by George A Romero, "Tales From the Darkside.” The series explores horror, science fiction, and fantasy. SSN Insight: The CW ordered the pilot on February 2. The project re-teams Kurtzman and Orci with Hill, son of horror novelist Stephen King. The trio previously worked together on Locke & Key, a drama adaptation of Hill’s graphic novel, which went to pilot at Fox
The Eichmann Show Network: BBC 2 Studio: No Studio Available. Production Company: Feelgood Fiction Executive Producer(s): Philip Clarke Writer(s): Simon Block Logline: Producer Milton Fruchtman and director Leo Hurwitz televise the trial of Adolf Eichmann, one of the chief Nazi architects of the Holocaust, and expose its horrors to a global audience over four months in 1961. Details: Based on the televised 1961 trial of Adolph Eichmann.
The Get Down Network: Netflix Studio: Sony Pictures Television Production Company: Midd Kid Productions Executive Producer(s): Baz Luhrmann, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Shawn Ryan, Marney Hochman Nash, Catherine Martin Writer(s): Stephen Adly Guirgis Logline: A mythic saga of how New York at the brink of bankruptcy gave birth to hip-hop, punk and disco told through the lives and music of the South Bronx kids who changed the city, and the world forever. SSN Insight: Netflix has ordered 13 episodes.
The Perfect Kill Studio: Fox 21 Television Studios Production Company: Imagine Television Executive Producer(s): Brian Grazer, Francie Calfo, Elwood Reid, Robert Baer Writer(s): Elwood Reid Logline: Chronicles the history of assassination as a political tool and outlines his rules for an effective kill. Details: Based on the book, "The Perfect Kill: 21 Laws for Assassins," written by Robert B. Baer and to be published by Blue Rider Press on October 28, 2014. SSN Insight: Grazer optioned the book last June, ahead of the book’s October release. Imagine TV is also currently producing the hit series Empire.
The Reaper Production Companies: Macmillan Publishing, The Weinstein Company Executive Producer(s): Brendan Deneen, Marc Resnick Logline: Nicknamed "The Reaper" by his battalion, Nicholas Irving became one of its deadliest snipers, breaking records for enemy kills in a single deployment. The first African-American ever to serve as a sniper in his battalion, Irving's story gives an inside look at his development in the military, what those in the special operations community go through and the sacrifices they make to their country and families. Details: Based on the autobiographical memoir," The Reaper: Autobiography of One of the Deadliest Special Ops Snipers, written by Nicholas Irving with Gary Brozek and published by St. Martin's Press on January 27, 2015. SSN Insight: Planned as a 5-part event series, with production set to begin this coming summer. TWC had also partnered with Deneen and Macmillan to adapt Daniel Stashower’s historical detective novel, The Hour Of Peril for TV.
Unforgettable Network: A&E Studio: CBS Television Studios, Sony Pictures Television Production Company: Timberman/Beverly Productions Executive Producer(s): Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly, Ed Redlich, John Bellucci, Richard Shepard Writer(s): John Bellucci, Ed Redlich, Sherri Cooper, Spencer Hudnut, Jennifer Levin Logline: A female NYPD detective remembers everything, which helps her in her career, but haunts her in her personal life. SSN Insight: Previously on CBS for three seasons, the series is being revived from cancellation for a second time. A&E is finalizing a deal for 13-episode fourth season of the Sony TV-produced crime procedural to air in late 2015.