Come with Me If You Want to Live

You’d think after his critically loved pilot Locke & Key was passed on by FOX just last year, Josh Friedman (FOX’s Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) would be in no hurry to collaborate with the network again so soon. Yet, Deadline reports that FOX has given a put pilot order to Friedman’s The Asset, a character-driven drama centering on a female spy in the New York branch of the CIA.

However, FOX has also greenlighted a teen spy pilot from writer Karyn Usher (The Playboy Club). Per Deadline, the “procedural thriller” will follow the 17-year-old daughter of a deceased CIA operative who is then recruited into the CIA herself. This pickup is particularly interesting because it comes with a significant penalty attached if not picked up to series.

It seems The CW has finally made a decision on which pilots they want to see more of, and they all just happen to be adaptations of previous works. According to Deadline, The CW has given pilot orders to Arrow (based on DC Comics’ Green Arrow), The Carrie Diaries (prequel to Sex and the City), and Beauty and the Beast (reboot of the 1980s series). Clearly, the network is hoping one of these popular properties will lead to their next big hit.

And because you just can’t have enough detectives named Sherlock running around, Deadline reports that CBS has picked up Elementary, a modern-day adaptation of Sherlock Holmes in New York City from writer Rob Doherty (Medium). The network has also given a pilot order to Baby Big Shot from writer Dana Calvo (Franklin & Bash), which will center on a woman who uses street smarts to best those competing with her at a law firm in Manhattan.

For its first pilot pickup since 2010’s Alphas and Three Inches, Syfy has greenlighted Rewind from writer Justin Marks (Street Fighter). Per Deadline, the pilot will follow a team of military operatives and civilian scientists who travel back in time to stop a terrorist attack. Scratch out the ‘time’ part, and you almost have the premise of Stargate Universe! Either way, I’m just excited at the possibility of having another ‘escapist’ show on my tv again. Production on the two-hour pilot is set to begin in April.

Halt, Who Goes There?

Syfy has also picked up and cast the lead for their new series Defiance from Farscape creator Rockne S. O’Banno. Developed concurrently as an online video game, Deadline reports that Defiance is set on a future Earth where humans and aliens live together on the ravaged planet. Grant Bowler (Ugly Betty) will play a former soldier who fought in an alien war and lost everything. It’s Western meets Sci-Fi but in a different way than Firefly. The series begins production in April with director Scott Stewart (Legion).

NBC’s high-concept futuristic pilot Beautiful People, centering on a human society with androids as second-class citizens, now has a full cast. Per Deadline, the pilot will star Frances Conroy (Six Feet Under), Andrea Parker (The Pretender), Madisen Beaty, Cody Christian (Pretty Little Liars), Patrick Heusinger, Jud Tylor, Megalyn Echikunwoke (The 4400), and James Murray. The question is will this one go the same way as NBC’s 17th Precinct pilot from last season?

And just when you thought True Blood could not get anymore Twilight associations: Deadline reports that Christopher Heyerdahl (Twilight) will be dropping by the show to play Dieter Braun, an old and powerful vampire who enjoys the occasional violent interrogation. So basically, he’ll be reprising his role of Marcus from the Twilight series.

USA’s pilot from White Collar creator Jeff Eastin just got a little bigger. According to Deadline, Daniel Sunjata (Rescue Me) has been cast as another member of the undercover safe house in Southern California where members of the DEA, FBI, and LAPD will live and work. This cast is turning out to be ridiculously big for a show that doesn’t even have a title yet.