ABC Scraps David E. Kelley, Michael Connelly Drama Series ‘Avalon’ Starring Neve Campbell Despite Series Order

ABC has reversed course on the drama series “Avalon,” opting not to move forward with the show despite giving it a straight-to-series order in February.

“Avalon” hailed from David E. Kelley and executive producer Michael Connelly, with the show based on a short story that Connelly wrote. Neve Campbell was set to star in the lead role. Other cast members included Demetrius Grosse, Alexa Mansour, Steven Pasquale, and Roslyn Ruff.

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Per the official logline, the show “takes place in the main city of Avalon on Catalina Island, where LA Sheriff Department Detective Nicole “Nic” Searcy (Campbell) heads up a small office. Catalina has a local population that serves more than 1 million tourists a year, and each day when the ferries arrive, hundreds of potential new stories enter the island. Detective Searcy is pulled into a career-defining mystery that will challenge everything she knows about herself and the island.”

According to an individual with knowledge of the situation, ABC opted not to move forward with the series order for “Avalon” after screening the pilot. A+E Studios is said to still be bullish about the project and are weighing options on how to proceed.

It was meant to air during the 2022-2023 season. Kelley wrote the pilot and was an executive producer. Connelly executive produced alongside Dana Calvo, who was to serve as showrunner. Ross Fineman of Fineman Entertainment and Barry Jossen and Tana Jamieson of A+E Studios were also executive producers, as was Matthew Tinker of DEK Productions. The show was produced by A+E Studios and 20th Television.

Campbell will remain in business with Kelley, Connelly, Fineman, and A+E Studios, however. She currently appears in the Netflix series “The Lincoln Lawyer,” based on Connelly’s book series of the same name and on which Kelley is the creator and executive producer. Fineman also executive produces with A+E Studios producing. It was previously reported that she would have a smaller role in the second season of that show at the time her casting in “Avalon” was announced.

This is now the second time in as many years that ABC has decided not to move forward with a show with a straight-to-series order. In 2021, ABC had ordered a multi-cam comedy starring Alec Baldwin, Kelsey Grammer, and Alec Mapa before axing the show in April.

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