Fox has been busy greenlighting pilots, and some are sounding more promising than others. Variety has a rundown of the latest scripts set to go infront of the lens: Weigh in below…
• Walorsky: Ordered before Paul Blart: Mall Cop took the top spot at least weekend’s box office, this comedy is said to revolve around an ex-cop who now charged with keeping a Buffalo, NY shopping mall safe. "He’s forced to start caring about his job — and not just Buffalo sports — when he’s partnered with a rookie," Variety says. Casting will be crucial, but I’m actually kinda digging a potential send-up of the cop-buddy genre. TAG (Totally Arbitrary Grade): B
• Sons of Tucson: The comedy "revolves around a hustler who’s hired by three young brothers to act as their father." Title feels a bit stale, and I’m guessing by "hustler" they don’t mean of the escort variety. TAG: C
• The Station: Ben Stiller will exec produce this comedy which "takes place in a covert CIA office in South America, where the team must install a new dictator." If it’s a send-up of procedurals and features a new mission every week, I’m in. TAG: B+
• Two Dollar Beer: I love me some blue-collar comedy, but I hate me that title. This sitcom "centers on a Detroit couple and their family and friends, all of whom must adjust to the changing world around them." That’s sufficiently generic-sounding, but it’s from The Upside of Anger writer-director Mike Binder, so there’s probably some depth. TAG: C+
• HumanTarget: Based on the DC Comics character, it revolves around a "mysterious freelancer Christopher Chance, whotakes on a different identity each week to help those in need." McG is among the exec producers (plus!), but ABC already tried to adapt the title in 1992 — with Rick Springfield in the lead (minus!). TAG: B
• Maggie Hill: It’s a medical drama about "a female surgeon who managesto work around her schizophrenia thanks to modern medicine." I’d be more psyched if she had multiple personalities, but it’s nice to see female lead. (Also, it sounds like it could do well in repeats a few years from now on TNT.) TAG: A-
• "Untitled reincarnation project": This drama "focuses on investigators who try to resolve their clients’current woes by solving the mysteries encountered in their previouslives." The concept sounds interesting… and confusing. How do you film that? TAG: B
Which shows receive your highest and lowest totally arbitrary grades?
they all sound kind of lame, to be honest.
They should hire Peter Dinklage as the mall cop in “Walorsky.” I live in Buffalo, and there’s a mall security guard at Walden Galleria who is a midget. Seriously. The pilot practically writes itself.
Most of these sound kind of lame. I might give Human Target and Maggie Hill a chance though.
Bad ideas FOX. Yikes. Who thought of these and approved them to go to Pilot???
The reincarnation project sounds like a variation of New Amsterdam and we all know how that ended. Fox does have an interesting track record of taking strange concepts and staffing them well. Whoever thought House or Bones sounded good as a concept?
Nothing real exciting sounding. I guess I’ll wait to judge until I see previews.
some sound good, some sound awful, guess we will just have to watch and see, The Station and Maggie Hill will get a first chance with me.
Arsenio, putting Peter Dinklage in any of these shows would increase the awesome factor exponentially.
maggie hill sounds good! yay, another medical drama!
Well -you can’t tell if a pilot is good from a two sentence summary. It is all about the script.
And no more Brits or Aussies in the leads! It is out of control and the American accents usually stink. Come on – hire American actors for American TV shows!
Wow, another medical drama. Maggie Hill? Yea, let’s take House and make him a female with schizo instead of a drug addiction.
Human Target is what I’m waiting for. Written by Jon Steinberg co-creator of Jericho, and that was one of the best shows on TV. Can’t wait!
Walorsky sounds like a big hit to me. So many funny scenarios can be setup using the mall and the public as a backdrop (A). Sons of Tucson- I remember John Ritter as Jack Tripper, a str8 guy pretending to be gay so that he could live with two women in a small apartment. It became a phenomenal hit show; so could this unique vehicle (A+). The Station- If it’s as offensive and as abstract as ‘Tropic Thunder’ it’ll die a quick death on mainstream tv. Sounds iffy-(D). Two Dollar Beer- ‘Roseanne’ makes a comeback at just the right time (B+). Human Target has several pluses(McG, Steinberg, DC comics) and one major minus. It’s only ‘Alias’ done from a male perspective (B-/C+). Maggie Hill could be a great partner show for House since ’24′ is fading faster than anyone thought it would (A). Untitled reincarnation project- If’s it’s done J.J. Abrams style and we get to see the peole morphing from their first life to their current life, it will have short term success only- (C-).
Where are the black people?! Is this “change we can believe in?” All these pilots feature white people except for “Treme.” Entertainment Weekly is part of the problem for not exposing Hollywood networks for the continual race discrimination it upholds.