The upcoming Pilot Season...

I did a post a loooong time ago about the IMDB page jumping that I do, quite frankly I spend a lot of time on IMDB, too much really. The other night I was on there looking up something and I found myself on The Big Bang Theory Page. I was reading the show description and I thought to myself. Wow. If I knew nothing about this show, I'm really not sure if I'd watch it as this doesn't sound all that interesting. Then of course, welcome Mr. Parsons and that changes everything. So then, of course I started to bounce around IMDB reading descriptions of some other shows to see what the descriptions of those were.  The question is, would I watch them based on just that description.

A woman who moves into an apartment next door to two brilliant but socially awkward physicists shows them how little they know about life outside of the laboratory.

The survivors of a plane crash are forced to live with each other on a remote island, a dangerous new world that poses unique threats of its own.

The trials and tribulations of small town Texas football players, their friends, family, and coaching staff.

Baltimore drug scene, seen through the eyes of drug dealers, and law enforcement.

An antisocial maverick doctor who specializes in diagnostic medicine does whatever it takes to solve puzzling cases that come his way using his crack team of doctors and his wits.

On there own, they don't always sound overly interesting. As it turns out, in that list are 3 of my favorite shows of all time.

It's pilot season right now in Hollywood, it seems like every hour I see tweets about Network XYZ has picked up pilot FGH. Thankfully  the good folks at EW have done a great article listing all the pilots so far and what they're about. Some sound interesting and yet some sound downright awful and you have to wonder just what a network exec is thinking. So, here's the list. As you know, just because something gets a pilot, a lot of these will never see the inside of our Media Rooms. Some, will suffer the fate of great shows like, How to be a Gentlemen and Work It this season. Two episodes and out. So, grab a piece of paper and a pen and let's look at the list and see what we like just by the tricky description. Keep track of how many of these that sound interesting to you and that you would actually watch if they made it to air. 


NBC Dramas


Beautiful People
Description: An imaginative and thematically rich ensemble “what if” drama set 10 minutes in the future where families of mechanical human beings exist to service the human population — that is, until some of the mechanicals begin to “awaken.”

Thoughts from the Media Room: Umm, didn't we see this in 1999 when it was called The Matrix?


The Munsters now to be called Mockingbird Lane
Description: From writer-executive producer Bryan Fuller, Mockingbird Lane is an imaginative reinvention of The Munsters as a visually spectacular one-hour drama.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Fuller has quite the imagination and I'm very intrigued with what he can bring to this 1960's classic series.


The Frontier
Description: In an intense tale of survival a group of disparate travelers embark on an incredible cross-country adventure through the West, where danger stalks them at every turn.

Thoughts from the Media Room: This sounds quite boring and unlike Hell on Wheels,  of which this sounds very similar, I'm sure the writing in this won't be as good as the cable hit.


Midnight Sun
Description: This thriller follows the mysterious disappearance of a group living on a commune in Alaska. Based on an acclaimed Israeli format, a female FBI cult specialist starts an investigation that uncovers a larger conspiracy.

Thoughts from the Media Room: This sounds interesting to me, if this was Produced by JJ Abrams I think I might be more interested for some reason. I hope this makes it to air.


Do No Harm
Description: A brilliant neurosurgeon wrestles with his dangerous alter ego that threatens to wreak havoc on his personal and professional life.

Thoughts from the Media Room: This gets a GIANT pass from me. GIANT PASS.


Chicago Fire
Description: From the writing team of 3:10 to Yuma comes this action-driven drama exploring the complex and heroic men and women of the Windy City’s Fire Department.

Thoughts from the Media Room: We just finished 7 years of Rescue Me, I don't know about you, but I'm not sure I'm ready to go down that road again quite so soon.


Revolution
Description: A high octane action drama from J. J. Abrams following a group of characters struggling to survive and reunite with loved ones in a world where all forms of energy have mysteriously ceased to exist.

Thoughts from the Media Room: There it is, one of my favorite names in Hollywood J.J. Abrams. So, yes. I'm interested.


County
Description: Emmy-winning creator Jason Katims takes us into the lives of a group of young doctors, nurses, and administrators, in a frenetic underfunded and morally compromising L.A. County Hospital.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Will some of the stars of ER be joining this? Wow, how desperate is NBC to get back to the good years?


Bad Girls
Description: From the producers of Shameless, and adapted from the long-running U.K. hit series of the same name, Bad Girls follows the ins and outs of a group of unlikely women in a federal prison: a scandalous female warden, her new protégé and a host of inmates – some mothers, some friends—who struggle with loyalties to people on the inside and the outside.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Such the wrong network for this show to be on. If this was on cable, I'd be there.


NBC Comedies


Sarah Silverman Project
Description: A single-camera comedy in which series star Sarah Silverman (The Sarah Silverman Program) returns to her old life after a breakup, ready to pick up where she left off, and finds it’s not as easy as she thought because those around her have moved on.

Thoughts from the Media Room: A brave brave move here by NBC. Whitney. Failed imo. Chelsea. Failed imo. I like Silverman, but something about this description just isn't selling it to me. See the 5 examples at the top on why I could be wrong. 


Downwardly Mobile
Description: This multi-cam comedy brings Roseanne Barr back to series television as the proprietor of a mobile-home park and surrogate mother to all of the unique people who live there in a challenging economy.

Thoughts from the Media Room: I loved the early years of Roseanne in the 90's. I'm just not so sure about this one here.


Isabel
Description: A comedy centering on an otherwise normal middle-class family that wrestles with the challenges of everyday life while raising a daughter (Sophia Mitri Schloss, Grimm) who has magical qualities.

Thoughts from the Media Room: WHAT? Seriously NBC. Suburgatory mixes with Once Upon A Time mixes with Grimm. PASS.


Save Me
Description: A woman who lets herself go while in a broken marriage goes through a transformation where she becomes the best version of herself and creates miracles along the way.

Thoughts from the Media Room: This seems to be trying to do alittle too much all while trying to be too different than anything we've seen before.


Untitled Karl Lizer Project.
Description: What happens between two lifelong female friends when a husband comes into the mix.

Thoughts from the Media Room: I just don't know what to say about this one.


Go On
Description: While an irreverent yet charming sportscaster tries to move on from loss, he reluctantly finds surprising solace from the members of his mandatory group-therapy sessions.

Thoughts from the Media Room: This is in the comedies?


Animal Kingdom
Description: A single-camera office comedy centered on a House-like veterinarian, who loves animals but usually hates their owners.

Thoughts from the Media Room: I can't help but throw my hands in the air and say, WHAT? I don't see this on my tv in the future.


Untitled Hilary Winston Project
Description: After being dumped by her fiancé, a shy, focused woman leans on her co-workers to help her come out of her shell and plot her revenge.

Thoughts from the Media Room: We've already got a Revenge show on television this season and it's actually called Revenge and I'm thinking it's waaaay better than this will be.


Untitled Jimmy Fallon Project
Description: Three thirtysomething guys enjoy the adventures of parenting despite the fact they haven’t grown up themselves.

Thoughts from the Media Room: This pretty much just failed this past season when it was called, Man Up!


The New Normal
Description: A heartwarming comedy about a blended family of a gay couple and the woman who becomes a surrogate to help them start a family.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Casting this one will make or break this shows potential success.  Witht the right group of comediens, this could be hilarious.


Friday Night Dinner
Description: Based on the U.K. format, this single-camera comedy about a quirky family that has supper together every Friday night is adapted by Emmy-winning creator Greg Daniels.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Adapting a UK Comedy rarely works, but for some reason if the family is cast right, I could see myself loving this show.


Next Caller Please
Description: A single-camera gender comedy focusing on a brash alpha-male DJ and his new, plucky, feminist cohost, set in the offices of a satellite radio station.

Thoughts from the Media Room: I see this making it to tv and crashing quickly for some reason.


Daddy’s Girls
Description: A young woman returns home from overseas to find that her father is seriously dating the “mean girl” from her high school.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Pass. Good Lord.


CBS Dramas


Elementary
Description: A modern take on the cases of Sherlock Holmes, with Sherlock now living in New York City.

Thoughts from the Media Room: How long did it take them to come up with this? Ohhh, Oh. I've got an idea. Sherlock Homes. Modern Day. New York. BOOM! We've got a show. It really seems that easy doesn't it.


Baby Big Shot
Description: A working-class woman uses her street smarts to compete with her more polished colleagues at a Manhattan law firm.

Thoughts from the Media Room: I'm pretty sure I saw something like this in 2000, I believe it was called, Erin Brockovich.


Trooper
Description: A common-sense mother turns New York state trooper.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Is this CBS or The CBC?


Golden Boy
Description: A show about the making of a man. Tracks one cop’s meteoric rise from officer to detective to police commissioner.

Thoughts from the Media Room: This really doesn't sound all that interesting. Is it just me?


Widow Detective
Description: After losing three partners in the line of duty, a decorated police detective becomes surrogate husband, lover, and father to their families.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Another show that seems to be trying too hard to be too many things.


Untitled Ralph Lamb Project
Description: Period piece set in the 1960s centered around the true story of Ralph Lamb: rodeo cowboy turned longtime sheriff of Las Vegas.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Playboy Club anyone? How long did that last? 3 episodes if I remember right.


Applebaum
Description: Based on Ayelet Waldman’s Mommy Track Mysteries series of books in which a former public defender becomes a private investigator to keep from being bored to death as a stay-at-home mom.

Thoughts from the Media Room: I really don't know what to say to that.


Quean
Description: An edgy and independent millennial-hacker girl teams up with an Oakland police detective to solve crimes.

Thoughts from the Media Room: You may have just enjoyed this movie and I know many of you read the trilogy of books that sounds awfuly familiar to this one.


CBS Comedies


Super Fun Night
Description: A half-hour multi-cam comedy following three nerdy female friends on their “funcomfortable” quest to have SUPER FUN every Friday night.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Ok, the trend of everything Nerdy being awesome really has to stop. I'm a nerd and I just don't see this working. Just because of the words "funcomfortable" and "Super Fun"


Untitled Louis CK Project
Description: Ensemble of young people trying to achieve their creative dreams in these tough financial times.

Thoughts from the Media Room: I got nothing here.


Friend Me
Description: Twentysomething best friends, Evan and Rob, move from their hometown of Bloomington, Ind., to Los Angeles to begin their exciting new lives working at GroupOn. Evan is having trouble breaking his old slothful habits and rather than go out after work to explore L.A. and meet new people, prefers to play online poker with his buddies back home. Rob has different plans and is determined to drag Evan, kicking and screaming, along with him.

Thoughts from the Media Room: I really don't see this on tv.


Untitled Nick Stoller Project
Description: Loosely based on Stoller’s real-life experiences, the pilot is a twentysomething ensemble comedy about a guy who gets his heart broken by his girlfriend and now has to work one cubicle away from her at an ad agency.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Another I just don't see on tv.


Partners
Description: A personal story of two lifelong friends and business partners. Architects Charlie and Louis’ friendship has lasted longer than either of their romantic relationships and almost seems like a weird marriage. When Charlie decides to propose to his girlfriend, Louis’ neurotic attempts to be supportive nearly result in the breakup of his own relationship.

Thoughts from the Media Room: I just don't see how this is a tv show? How many times can Louis' girlfriend almost breakup with him because of this.


Untitled Greg Malins/Greg Berlanti Project
Description: Nick has a health scare and realizes Wendy, his best friend and business partner of 15 years, is “the one.” Now he has to figure out how to break it to her.

Thoughts from the Media Room: This sounds highly original and I don't remember any other show trying this story.


Fox Dramas


The Asset
Description: A character-driven drama set in the CIA’s New York City station, focusing on a female agent with a very specialized and controversial area of expertise.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Fox Drama. National Security Agency. Agent with Controversial Methods. Sound familiar to anyone else? Ya, I thought so.


Guilty
Description: After being falsely convicted of fraud and stripped of his legal license, a brilliant, morally questionable defense attorney uses his unusual methods to solve the cases he’s been prohibited from handling and ultimately to exact revenge on the man who set him up.

Thoughts from the Media Room: I don't know about you, I don't need any more Lawyer shows in my life. I really could use a break from them actually.


Untitled Berman/Wright Project
Description: A young female thoracic surgeon with Bridgeport roots is split between two worlds as she juggles her career and her lifelong debt to the South Chicago mob.

Thoughts from the Media Room: First off, I'm dumb. I had to look up what thoracic surgeon was. For those that don't know like me. A thoracic surgeon is a medical doctor who performs operations on the heart, lungs, esophagus, and other organs in the chest. So, then I can't help but ask myself. Why is it that she needs to be a thoracic surgeon?


Untitled Karyn Usher Project
Description: The orphaned 17-year-old daughter of a CIA operative encounters a mysterious rogue agent-assassin who serves as both her surrogate father and professional mentor in the spy world.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Does this sound a bit too crazy to anyone else? It could just be me. The further I go here, the angrier and more bitter I get. Some of these just sound awful don't they?


Untitled Kevin Williamson
Description: An edge-of-your-seat thriller about the complex relationship between a diabolical serial killer and the damaged FBI agent who took him down. After the killer escaped, the agent is reactivated and discovers that he is no longer just hunting one man, but a massive cult of serial killers created and manipulated during his time in prison. Kevin Bacon is near a deal to star as the agent.

Thoughts from the Media Room: This intrigues me. I would like this so much better at 10:00 PM on HBO. 9:00 PM on Fox I just don't see it being dark and gritty enough for what it should be.


Fox Comedies


Ben Fox Is My Manny
Description: Under the guise of being his niece’s nanny, a free spirited young guy moves in with his type “”A”" tightly wound sister and in the process will help her reenter the world.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Can't say this excites me.


El Jefe
Description: Tossed out of his Brentwood home, an affable but lost 30-year-old guy moves in with his longtime Latin American nanny, goes head-to-head with her strong-willed son, and finds himself in a family and work life very different from the one he grew up in.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Nope.


Like Father
Description: Comedy centering a on father-son relationship, inspired by Lawrence’s real-life experiences.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Nope.


Little Brother
Description: A boisterous ex-con moves in with his level-headed brother and the brother’s family.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Another Nope. Why so many comedies Fox? Do you have slots available for all these comedies?


Living Loaded
Description: A hard-partying blogger is forced to reevaluate his laissez-faire career plan when he gets a new job as a host on public radio.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Fox, you aren't selling me on anything yet.


Prodigy Bully
Description: A rare child prodigy with an attitude shakes up his Hogwarts-like academy, while bringing the rarified world of his school back home to his aggressive working class family in Lowell, Mass.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Wow. There is a whole lot going on there. A whole lot. I just don't see any of it being good.


Untitled Mindy Kaling Project
Description: A young Bridget Jones-type doctor, trying to navigate both her personal and professional lives.

Thoughts from the Media Room: This star is currently on The Office and she gets so much praise. I just don't see the humor. I think I need to read her book.


ABC Dramas


Beauty and the Beast
Description: A fantastical reimagining of the classic fairy tale set in a mythical, dangerous world wherein a beautiful and tough princess discovers an unlikely connection with a mysterious beast.

Thoughts from the Media Room: We have too many of these already. Grimm and Once Upon a Time are more than enough for me. That being said, I really don't see Grimm getting a second season.


Gotham
Description: After pursuing a seemingly unsolvable case, a female cop discovers a magical world that exists within New York City. A world that goes unseen by normal humans, and takes all of the familiar NYC landmarks and reinvents them in a magical otherworldly manner.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Soooo, not about Batman? I'm out.


Last Resort
An international action-thriller-soap that follows the story of establishing a new society in a world held hostage by the crew of a ballistic missile submarine. Basically, a U.S. nuclear sub crew refuses orders to fire their missiles and escapes to a NATO outpost and declares themselves the smallest nuclear nation.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Um. Um. I'm just going to move on to the next pilot.


Zero Hour
Description: A bizarre twist of fate pulls a man who’s spent 20 years as the editor of a skeptics magazine into one of the most compelling conspiracies in human history.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Now this interests me. I'm sold on this one. It's been a while since I read something I liked.


Devious Maids
Description: Based on the Mexican format, this soap follows four maids with ambition and dreams of their own while they work for the rich and famous in Beverly Hills.

Thoughts from the Media Room: This would be soooo much better as a comedy.


Penoza
Description: Based on the Dutch format, Penoza centers on the widow of an assassinated criminal who is forced to adopt her husband’s role in an organized-crime syndicate in order to protect her family.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Personally. I wouldn't watch this.


666 Park Ave.
Description: When a young couple accepts an offer to manage one of the most historic apartment buildings in New York City, they unwittingly begin to experience supernatural occurrences, which complicate and endanger the lives of everyone in the building.

Thoughts from the Media Room: So, Ghostbusters 1? But without Bill Murrary or the funny?


Untitled Roland Emmerich Project
Description: Set in New York City against the backdrop of the presidential race. Follows a young astrophysics student who finds out that his destiny lies not in science but somewhere between hell and heaven.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Gotta be honest here, I read the first line and thought. Hmm, this sounds boring and predictable. Then you read that second line and you really can't see how it connects to the first one can you? Going to be a pass.


Scruples
Description: Based on the 1978 novel Scruples that follows the life of Wilhelmina Hunnewell Winthrop, a.k.a. Billy, a previously plump woman who loses weight, becomes fabulously cool, and survives a very rich (and very old) first husband. She ends up opening up a Beverly Hills clothing boutique called Scruples.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Showtime dark comedy, I think this could be funny. ABC and Drama, this just doesn't work for me.


Americana
Description: A soap set around a legendary fashion designer and his family and business.

Thoughts from the Media Room: I'm clearly not the target audience for this one.


Nashville
Description: A family soap set against the backdrop of the Nashville music scene that follows one star at her peak and one on the rise.

Thoughts from the Media Room: I see Mrs. Media Room loving this one.


Gilded Lillys
Description: Set in 1895, this epic love story follows the opening of the first grand luxury hotel in NYC, against a backdrop of vicious family rivalries, scandalous secrets, and conflict and comingling of classes.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Again, with the great writers in the cable format, this could have been fantastic. Regular network television I just don't see it being edgy enough for me.


ABC Comedies


American Judy
Description: A cosmopolitan woman gets married and becomes a fish out of water in the suburbs, having to juggle step-kids, her mother-in-law, and the ex-wife of her husband who also happens to be the town sheriff.

Thoughts from the Media Room: I love when I read, "happens to be". I don't. I'm being quite sarcastic. But I think you already picked up on that.


The Smart One
Description: Portia de Rossi stars as a brilliant and successful woman who begrudgingly goes to work for her less-brainy but more popular sister — a former beauty queen, weather girl and now big-city Mayor.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Ok, there is something I didn't think I'd read tonight. "A former Beauty Queen, Weather Girl and now big-city Mayor" Can we just have Better Off Ted back please.


Untitled Dan Fogelman Project
Description: Family that moves into a highly desirable gated community in New Jersey only to discover that the entire neighborhood is made up of aliens disguised as humans.

Thoughts from the Media Room: I read New Jersey and I thought I was out. Then I read aliens disguised as humans. Props to who thought of that one.


How to Live With Your Parents for the Rest of Your Life
Description: Polly, a recently divorced single mom, moves in with her eccentric parents, Elaine and Max, a couple who are full of life but know no boundaries.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Going to pass.


Untitled Adam Sztykiel Project
Description: A raw, hilarious peek behind the curtain of modern twentysomething relationships.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Hilarious Peek you say.


White Van Man
Description: Based on the British format, the show centers on a man who is forced to put his dreams on hold in order to take over the family handyman business from his father.

Thoughts from the Media Room: I don't read that and think, funny stuff right there.


Only Fools and Horses
Description: Based on the iconic British series, this classic comedy chronicles the misadventures of two streetwise brothers and their aging grandfather as they concoct outrageous, morally questionable get-rich-quick schemes in their quest to become millionaires.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Another Nope.


Counter Culture
Three aging sisters who run their family diner together in West Texas find that sibling dynamics are always getting in the way of getting the job done.

Thoughts from the Media Room: I can't help but read this and think Corner Gas for some reason.


Untitled Karl Lizer
Description: The half-hour multi-camera project concerns a high-powered female executive who has dominated corporate America for years, facing the biggest challenge of her life: finding herself unemployed and acting as a full-time mom to her two teenagers.

Thoughts from the Media Room: I've read this 3 times and I really can't find anything to say one way or another. Not a good sign.


The CW Dramas


Arrow
Description: Based on the DC Comics comic book, this hour-long drama is a modern retelling of the legendary DC Comics character Green Arrow. Stephen Amell to star.

Thoughts from the Media Room: I didn't watch Smallville and I don't see myself watching this either.


The Carrie Diaries
Description: Based on the novel by Candace Bushnell, a young Carrie Bradshaw comes of age in the 1980s, asking her first questions about love, sex, friendship, and family while exploring the worlds of high school and Manhattan.

Thoughts from the Media Room: You'll be surprised to know, this isn't for me.


Shelter
Description: Drama set at an historic New England summer resort where the new and returning staff attend to the practical, emotional, and often comical needs of the guests while navigating friendships, rivalries, and romances of their own.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Trying to be Dawson's Creek by the sounds of it.


The Selection
Description: Based on the forthcoming series of books by Kiera Cass, The Selection is an epic romance set 300 years in the future which centers on a poor young woman who is chosen by lottery to participate in a competition to become the next queen of a war-torn nation at a crossroads.

Thoughts from the Media Room: The CW is doing this?


Joey Dakota
Description: Based on the Israeli format Danny Hollywood. In this romantic time-travel musical, a documentary filmmaker travels back in time to the 1990s where she meets and falls in love with the rock-star subject of her film. When she unexpectedly returns to the present day, she must find her way back to the past to reunite with her love and prevent his untimely death.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Romantic Time-Travel Musical?


Cult
Description: After a rash of disappearances and a likely murder, an inquisitive, young female production assistant on a wildly popular television show called Cult joins a journalist-blogger in investigating the rabid fans of the series who might be re-creating crimes seen on the program, in real life.

Thoughts from the Media Room: Wow. No.


Beauty and the Beast
Description: Loosely based on the CBS’ Beauty and the Beast series from the 1980s, this is a modern-day romantic love story with a procedural twist.

Thoughts from the Media Room: I see this being Gossip Girl with Beast for some reason.


First Cut
Description: Glad to leave her nerdy past behind for a fresh start in the adult professional world, a newly minted doctor discovers that, sadly and comically, life at the hospital where she works is no different than high school.

Thoughts from the Media Room: So, Scrubs?

How many did you end up with?

So that's all of them so far. September is going to be, let's use the word interesting. Seems like a LOOOT of garbage out there. But like we started, you just never know until you're already hooked.

Thanks to EW for the great article, click to go to their site to find out the writers, producers and such for these potential new series.