CBS Picks Up ‘Crazy Ones’, Greg Garcia, ‘Mom’, Rob Greenberg, ‘Hostages’, ‘Intelligence’
UPDATE: I hear among the pilots remaining in serious contention are dramas Backstrom and Beverly Hills Cop and comedy Friends With Better Lives. I also gear that the serialized Hostages, which had been rumored for a midseason run, has received a 15-episode order and may air as a limited run.
PREVIOUS, 2:30 PM: CBS is going for star power — both in front and behind the camera — with its series pickups. The network has ordered projects starring Robin Williams, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Anna Faris, Allison Janney, Will Arnett, Kal Penn, Tony Shalhoub, Jerry O’Connell, Toni Collette, Dylan McDermott, Josh Holloway, and Marg Helgenberger from writers/producers Chuck Lorre, Greg Garcia, David E. Kelley and Jerry Bruckheimer.
Living up to the buzz that CBS has been higher on its comedy pilots than dramas this season, the network has picked up four new comedy series vs. two dramas. The comedies are two multi-camera — Lorre’s Mom and Garcia’s multi-camera project, now titled The Millers – and two single-camera — Kelley’s Crazy Ones starring Robin Williams and We Are Men (formerly untitled Rob Greenberg). This marks the first time in five years that CBS will have a single-camera on the air, since Worst Week in 2008. On the drama side, getting the nod are the Bruckheimer-produced conspiracy thriller Hostages and crime procedural Intelligence, which stars Holloway and Helgenberger. The big question is: where is Beverly Hills Cop? Word is CBS is not completely done yet, with 1-2 more pickups likely. For now, I’ve only heard that the Tad Quill project and Rottenberg/Zuritsky are not going forward; I’ll update with info on others.
Related: Chuck Lorre’s ‘Mom’ To Get Series Order
The four new comedy series is twice what CBS ordered last year and the largest half-hour contingent in years as the network is preparing for the departure of How I Met Your Mother and possibly Two And A Half Men. With at least four new half-hour series (and five returning), the network will certainly open a second comedy hour. Picking up the little older-skewing single-camera Crazy Ones and We Are Men seems to fall in line with speculation about a possible comedy block Friday. An expansion on Thursday also is a possibility.
Related: ‘Criminal Minds’ Stars Close Deals, Series Renewed
This is the second series order today for Intelligence director/exec producer David Semel, who also produces NBC’s Ironside in addition to just-picked-up TNT drama Legends. Here are detailed descriptions of CBS’ newly picked up series:
DRAMA
HOSTAGES
EP/W/D: Jeffrey Nachmanoff
EP: Rick Eid
EP: Jerry Bruckheimer, Jonathan Littman, Omri Givon, Rotem Shamir, Chayim Sharir
Based on the Israeli format created by Alon Aranya, Omri Givon and Rotem Shamir
Studio: Jerry Bruckheimer Television i/a/w Warner Bros. Television
Cast includes:Toni Collette, Dylan McDermott
Logline: A family is caught in the middle of a grand political conspiracy that will change their lives forever.
INTELLIGENCE
EP/ Writer: Michael Seitzman
EP/Dir: David Semel
EP: Tripp Vinson
EP: Rene Echevarria
Studio: CBS Television Studios/ABC Studios
Cast includes: Josh Holloway, Marg Helgenberger, Meghan Ory
Logline: INTELLIGENCE is centered at US Cyber Command, and focuses on a unit that has been created around one agent with a very special gift, a microchip that has been implanted in his brain that allows him to access the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
COMEDY
WE ARE MEN (formerly Untitled Rob Greenberg)
Half-hour, single camera
Creator: Rob Greenberg
EP: Rob Greenberg, Eric and Kim Tannenbaum
Writer: Rob Greenberg
Studio: CBS Television Studios
Director: Rob Greenberg
Cast includes: Chris Smith, Kal Penn, Tony Shalhoub, Jerry O’Connell
Logline: A young guy finds camaraderie living among the more experienced guys he meets in a short-term rental complex.
MOM
Half hour, multi-camera
EP: Chuck Lorre, Eddie Gorodetsky
Producer: Gemma Baker
W: Chuck Lorre & Eddie Gorodetsky & Gemma Baker
D: Pamela Fryman
Studio: Chuck Lorre Productions, Inc. in association with Warner Bros. Television
Cast includes: Anna Faris, Allison Janney
Logline: A newly sober single mom tries to pull her life together in Napa Valley.
THE MILLERS ( Formerly known as UNAUTHORIZED GREG GARCIA PROJECT)
Half- hour, multi-camera
EP/W: Greg Garcia
D: James Burrows
Studio: CBS Television Studios
Cast includes: Will Arnett, Margo Martindale, J.B. Smoove, Beau Bridges
Logline: a recently divorced guy’s life gets more complicated when his parents have marital problems of their own.
CRAZY ONES
Half-hour, single camera
EP/W: David E. Kelley
EP/W: Dean Lorey
EP: Bill D’Elia, John R. Montgomery, Mark Teitelbaum
EP/Director: Jason Winer
Studio: 20th Century Fox Television
Cast includes: Robin Williams, Sarah Michelle Gellar
Related stories
Chuck Lorre’s CBS Pilot ‘Mom’ To Get Series Order Tomorrow
Dylan McDermott To Star In CBS’ Drama Pilot ‘Hostages’ From Jerry Bruckheimer
Anna Faris To Star In Chuck Lorre’s CBS Comedy Pilot ‘Mom’
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