Once production is deemed safe, ABC has chosen five pilots to work on this season. Three shows—Adopted, National Parks Service and Triage—will roll over into the next pilot cycle. The network has also yet to announce the fate of three additional pilots for Prospect, Wreckage and the Untitled Kapnek/Holland Project, which was previously called Wild Child, according to Deadline.
This has not been the only shift in the ABC production schedule recently. The network decided not to grant reboots for the series Thirtysomething, Valley Trash and Brides. This news came on the heels that the network had acquired two new straight-to-series projects: Big Sky and Call Your Mother.
One of the first pilots will be Rebel, which stars Katey Sagal (Married… With Children) and Andy Garcia (Ocean’s Eleven) and is inspired by the life of American activist Erin Brockovich. It will be written by Krista Vernoff (Grace) and directed by Tara Nicole Weyr (Oz), via Deadline.
Harlem’s Kitchen will follow Ellis Rice, played by Delroy Lindo (The Good Fight), as he balances his successful fine-dining restaurant and family life in the midst of an unexpected death and unearthed secrets. Supporting cast includes Sheryl Lee Ralph (Oliver & Company), Miguel Gomez (The Strain) and Clare-Hope Ashitey (Seven Seconds).
As described by Deadline, the plot of Kids Matter Now is: “A diva boss with no patience for working parents adopts a baby and has a change of heart, casting her mother-of-three assistant as an unlikely mentor and upending the office dynamics.” Shana Goldberg-Meehan (Friends) will write and Christine Gernon (One Foot in the Grave) will direct.
Home Economics will follow the lives of three brothers as one lives in the top 1%, one lives in middle class and the other can barely hold on. Topher Grace (That ‘70s Show) is the first cast member to sign on; the project will be written by Michael Colton (Best Week Ever) and John Aboud (The Fake News with Ted Nelms).
Deadline said Work Wife will tell the story of two real estate agents who create their own team as they balance their professional and platonic, personal lives. The series inspiration came from the real-life partnerships of producers Kelly Ripa (All My Children) and Ryan Seacrest (American Idol).
Although a firm date for filming and release is not set, readers can anticipate the premiere of the pilots with the interactive ABC TV schedule.