While we impatiently wait for further news about Alex O’Loughlin’s future, and now Entertainment exec Nina Tassler has confirmed that CBS is still looking to work with him, here’s an update on the drama development situation at network for the 2010-2011 season.
According to the brilliant development tool at The Futon Critic, at the moment CBS has 11 drama script orders, 3 of which come with a financial penalty attached if they are not developed into a pilot. Nina Tassler stated at the TCA Press Tour yesterday that CBS expects to pick up 3 new drama series from 9 pilots.
In comparison, with fewer scheduling holes to fill, Tassler said CBS will likely pick up around nine drama and seven or eight comedy pilots. And if previous years are any indication, Tassler said, it’s likely the Eye will pick up around three new dramas and two new comedies to series.
“We’ll be shooting as many pilots as in previous years,” she said. “We can’t be complacent.”
We already know that CBS is developing two pilots for the new season: the Criminal Minds spinoff and the Hawaii Five-O remake. (A casting call for the spinoff was posted by Spoiler TV last month; other than the fact that Richard Shepard will direct the pilot, there is no further news at this time.) This leaves a further 7 pilots to be identified and developed in the drama category.
In a previous post, I also mentioned Private, a novel by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro that is to be released in June 2010. CBS has ordered a script (with a penalty commitment) from an adaptation of the book, to be written by Fringe‘s Jason Cahill.
The official premise for Private:
Former Marine and CIA agent Jack Morgan inherits his father’s renowned security and detective business—along with a case load that tests him to the breaking point. Getting to the bottom of an NFL gambling scandal and an unsolved LAPD investigation into 18 school girl slayings would be enough. On top of all that, Morgan takes on solving the horrific murder of his best friend’s wife.
As Morgan fights the urge to exact brutal revenge on that killer, he has to navigate a workplace imbroglio that could blow the roof off his elite agency. And it’s an especially explosive situation…because the love affair is his own.
In a recent article by the Palm Beach Daily News (thanks to Amy V.), the bestselling author digresses from the topic of the interview (i.e. his Everglades Island home that is up for sale) to share some interesting background information on Jack Morgan:
Sometimes Patterson calls the 7,970-square-foot home with five bedrooms and seven-and-a-half bathrooms “the house that Alex Cross built,” referring to the main character in one of his popular mystery-thriller series of novels.
Sales of the books did help pay for the house, Patterson acknowledges, but the Colonial plantation-style home wouldn’t suit Alex Cross, the author says. A new soon-to-be-introduced television character, however, would be right at home there. “There’s a new series called Private,” he says. “CBS just bought the rights, and the lead character is Jack Morgan. He’d live here.
“He owns the most successful investigative agency in the world. He’s down to earth, yet he appreciates the finer things in life. Jack would appreciate a house like this.”
So, which part of the house would Jack enjoy?
Patterson pauses. “Well, he’s young and he’s a bachelor. He’s quite handsome, and he’s looking for the right woman.”
There is a girlfriend, he adds, but their relationship hasn’t gone smoothly: “We want them to be together. They want to be together, but they can’t be together – and I’m not going to fill in the blanks.”
James Patterson is an immensely successful author; the former CEO of ad agency J. Walter Thompson outsells Dan Brown and John Grisham combined, with an average of 20 million books sold worldwide each year. Last September, he signed an astounding 17-book deal estimated to be worth $150 million with his publisher, the Hachette Book Group. Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club also made it to series at ABC in 2008, but was not continued beyond the initial 13 episode order. His Alex Cross novels Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider were made into feature films starring Morgan Freeman.
We can expect more news to surface about upcoming pilots for CBS in the next couple of months, in anticipation of the upfronts in May!
Additional sources: Forbes, The Guardian
Cool! Thanks for the info.
I think an action/drama is a great idea for Alex. He can do most of his own stunts and that always helps it look more real. I hope something develops along this line for him.
Thank you MizzoH for this fascinating article about the 2010-2011 season. Alex O’Loughlin will be perfect in any one of the spinoff crime dramas such as Criminal Minds and Hawaii Five-O. James Patterson’s Private, Alex is also perfect for the leading role, if it is going to be a big screen production. My fingers and toes are crossed and praying for Alex to land his biggest and most successful weekly television drama series, and the next blockbuster film.