CBS Drama Development Update – 01/29/10

It looks like we can safely cross the Criminal Minds spinoff  from our list of possible shows for Alex O’Loughlin. Not only is Oscar winner Forest Whitaker close to signing on the dotted line after lengthy negotiations for the role of team leader Sam Cooper, but yesterday also brought the news that British actor Matt Ryan is being eyed to play Mick Fleming, a former British Special Forces sniper. You can catch up on both developments at The Hollywood Reporter:

• Forest Whitaker to star in ‘Minds’ spinoff
• ‘Criminal Minds’ spinoff also adding cast

The current status for CBS this pilot season, according to DEVWATCH, is 6 pilot orders and 9 script orders (3 of which come with a penalty attached). The latest orders are for Chaos, Defenders and the project formerly called The Rememberer.

Nina Tassler mentioned at the TCA earlier this month that CBS expects to pick up 3 new dramas from a pool of 9 pilots. With the Criminal Minds spinoff being introduced on a spring episode of the existing show, it is almost certain to be picked up for the fall-winter season, so that would leave 2 drama slots left to be filled.

Also worth a read is ‘Ugly Betty’ cast in demand, Nets salivating over actors from canceled, bubble shows.

Okay, on to the sunny shores of the Hawaiian Islands… Whether or not Alex will be taking on the role of Steve McGarrett, there certainly is a lot of buzz about the Hawaii Five-O remake! Here are some of the latest mentions.

From Ask Matt at TV Guide:

Question: I hear a rumor buzzing around that CBS is eyeing Alex O’Loughlin for a remake of Hawaii Five-O. Any inside scoop coming your way on this or just rumors flying around again?—Eva

Matt Roush: This was all the buzz coming out of the TCA press tour, and I haven’t seen anyone deny it, so consider this one a valid rumor and a work in progress. This remake has been gestating at CBS for quite a while, and with Alex a free agent again and the network still yearning to be in business with him (after two failed series, one of which was canceled prematurely), it all makes perfect sense to me. A blue-sky action procedural should be a much better fit for him than was this season’s maudlin medical drama.

TV Guide also published a snippet in their February 1st issue – check out the scan provided by Alavenia.

The well-respected Canadian magazine MacLeans today posted an informative article about modern formula television (specifically dramas) and Hawaii Five-O was mentioned there too:

Back in the ’60s and ’70s, people who wrote for Hawaii 5-0 were told that the show wasn’t really about McGarrett or his fellow cops most weeks; the show was about the criminals. And that meant every episode was heavily focused on the story of the week. But now that Hawaii 5-0 is being remade, one thing that’s certain is that it will have many more regular characters than the original, and a lot more time every week will be spent on those regulars. The story will be a device to get those characters doing their thing, and the characters’ personal reactions to the mystery will be very important.

Read the full story at MacLeans.ca

Oh, and this just popped up in a Google alert:

Question: Why are police called 5 o?
Answer: It came from a television show called Hawaii 5-0 because Hawaii is the 50th state. In Hawaii, that was the street name for them.

As shooting for the Hawaii Five-O pilot is rumored to take place in March, we can expect the cast to be announced before filming commences. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that we won’t have to wait at least another month before we hear what Alex decides to do!