‘Beverly Hills Cop’, ‘Backstrom’ & Dana Klein Comedy Get Pilot Orders At CBS
CBS has given the long-rumored pilot order to Beverly Hills Cop. The network also has ordered to pilot drama Backstrom, from Bones creator/executive producer Hart Hanson, and comedy Friends With Better Lives, from writer Dana Klein and producer Aaron Kaplan.
Beverly Hills Cop, which had a pilot production commitment and had already cast Brandon T. Jackson as the lead, is a continuation of the movie franchise centered around Axel Foley’s police officer son, played by Jackson, who takes down the criminal elements of the rich and famous in Beverly Hills. The films’ star Eddie Murphy is set to appear in the pilot and will executive produce with Shawn Ryan, who wrote the script, as well as Ryan’s producing partner Marney Hochman.
Backstrom, based on the Backstrom books by renowned Swedish criminologist and novelist Leif G.W. Persson, also had a pilot production commitment. Persson’s book series centers on Evert Backstrom. Sometimes described as a detective version of Dr. Gregory House, he is an overweight, offensive, irascible detective as he tries and fails to change his self-destructive behavior. Hanson wrote the script and executive produces the project with Persson and his Scandinavian literary agent Niclas Salomonsson.
20th TV, where Hanson is based, is producing. With Bones just renewed for another season, Hanson will juggle both the veteran Fox dramedy and Backstrom, if it goes to series. Backstrom is popular in Scandinavia, where Persson’s books have sold more than 6 million copies. The character has appeared in two novels so far, Linda and He Who Kills The Dragon.
Klein’s multi-camera comedy Friends With Better Lives revolves around a group of 30-something friends who each think the other has it better. The project reunites the team behind another multi-camera comedy project that got a pilot order last season, NBC’s Daddy’s Girls — that pilot’s writer/exec producer Klein, executive producer Aaron Kaplan and studio 20th Century Fox TV. This marks Kaplan’s second pilot order this season, along with NBC comedy The Gates. He also has the Cullen Bros.’ comedy nearing a pickup at ABC.
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