‘The Three of Us’ Comedy Pilot at CBS Not Moving Forward

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAmazon Studios has ordered a YA pilot based on the Harlan Coben novel “Shelter,” Variety has learned exclusively.Shelter” is the first novel in Coben’s Mickey Bolitar book series. MGM has acquired the rights to all the other books in the Mickey Bolitar series as well.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterCecilia Suárez and Augusto Aguilera have joined the ABC drama pilot “Promised Land,” Variety has learned.The show is described as an epic, generation-spanning drama about two Latinx families vying for wealth and power in California’s Sonoma Valley.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterCall it the pilot season that wasn’t. One year later, the COVID-19 pandemic is still casting a long shadow over the new crop of broadcast shows.Across the Big Five networks, the majority of the pilots in contention this year are holdovers from 2020. The backlog is still being sorted out, underscoring the disruption of last spring when the public health crisis shut down work for months just as pilot production would have normally reached its peak.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterJohn Ortiz has been cast in a leading role of the ABC drama pilot “Promised Land,” Variety has learned.The show is described as an epic, generation-spanning drama about two Latinx families vying for wealth and power in California’s Sonoma Valley. Ortiz joins previously announced cast members Christina Ochoa and Mariel Molino.Ortiz will star as Joe Sandoval, the patriarch of the Sandoval family, a wealthy vineyard-owning family in the Sonoma Valley.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe horror comedy “Shining Vale” starring Courteney Cox, Greg Kinnear, and Mira Sorvino has been ordered to series at Starz, Variety has learned.The half-hour show had originally been picked up to pilot back in 2019. The premium cabler has given the series an eight-episode order.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAnika Noni Rose has been cast in the “Let the Right One In” pilot at Showtime, Variety has learned.She joins previously announced cast member Demián Bichir. The series centers on Mark (Bichir), a father and his 12-year-old daughter, Eleanor, whose lives were changed forever 10 years earlier when she was turned into a vampire.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“NCIS,” “Bull,” “SWAT,” “Blue Bloods,” and ‘Magnum PI’ have all been renewed at CBS.The network made the announcement on Thursday on Twitter.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterChristina Jackson has been cast in a leading role in the FX pilot based on the Sam Greenlee novel “The Spook Who Sat by the Door,” Variety has learned.The project was ordered to pilot at FX in February. Jackson will star opposite series lead Y’lan Noel.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Warrior” has been renewed for Season 3, with the show moving from Cinemax to HBO Max, Variety has learned.The first season of the show aired in 2019, with the second having debuted in October 2020. The series is based on the writings of Bruce Lee.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterNBC has given out a pair of comedy pilot orders, including one starring music superstar Demi Lovato.The Lovato project is titled “Hungry.” NBC had previously given the single-camera show a put pilot commitment back in January.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterChi McBride has joined the untitled CBS multi-cam comedy pilot based on the life of pro bowler Tom Smallwood, Variety has learned.In the series, after being laid off from the assembly line at the GM factory, seemingly ordinary man Tom (Pete Holmes) makes the extraordinary decision to provide for his family by following his dream of becoming a professional bowler.McBride will star as Archie.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterNatalia Anderson will direct the ABC single-camera comedy pilot “Maggie,” Variety has learned exclusively.Anderson started out as a director and producer on the CBS comedy series “Life in Pieces,” directing multiple episodes. Other TV directing credits for Anderson include “Black-ish,” “Single Parents,” “Brews Brothers,” “Grown-ish,” “American Housewife,” and “Perfect Harmony.” She previously worked at Brownstone Productions under Elizabeth Banks.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterHBO Max has given a series order to the half-hour comedy “Minx.”The streamer has given the show a 10-episode order. Set in 1970s Los Angeles, “Minx” on around an earnest young feminist (Ophelia Lovibond) who joins forces with a low-rent publisher (Jake Johnson) to create the first erotic magazine for women.In addition to Lovibond and Johnson, the show also stars Idara Victor, Jessica Lowe, Lennon Parham, Michael Angarano, and Oscar Montoya.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“The Powerpuff Girls” live-action pilot at The CW has found its Mojo Jojo.Nicholas Podany has joined the pilot in the role of Joseph “Jojo” Mondel Jr. As a kid, the nerdy, power-hungry, insecure JoJo was obsessed with The Powerpuff Girls, despite his father’s grudge against them.

The cast of CBS’ multi-camera comedy pilot The Three of Us, led by Oliver Hudson, Malin Akerman and Brent Morin, has been released. The options on the actors in two 2020 CBS comedy pilots, The Three Of Us and the single-camera Ghosts, were up today. They were not exercised on the CBS/CBS Studios’ The Three Of Us while Ghosts was picked up to series this afternoon.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterCBS has given a series order to “CSI: Vegas,” a sequel series to the network’s hit forensics procedural “CSI.”Original series stars William Petersen and Jorja Fox will reprise the roles of Gil Grissom and Sara Sidle. The series opens a brand new chapter in Las Vegas, the city where it all began.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterColin Firth will play Michael Peterson in a series adaptation of “The Staircase,” which has been ordered to series at HBO Max.HBO Max has ordered eight episodes of the limited series, which is based on the docuseries of the same name and various books and reports on the Peterson case. Peterson was accused of murdering his wife, Kathleen, in 2001.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterSarah Michelle Gellar is set to star in the YA comedy “Hot Pink,” which has been ordered to pilot at Amazon, Variety has learned.The show is loosely inspired by Elana K. Arnold’s book “What Girls Are Made Of.” In the book, Nina Faye was raised to believe that there is no such thing as unconditional love, meaning she will do anything for her boyfriend to prove her worthiness.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterEugenio Derbez’s upcoming Apple comedy series “Acapulco” has added four new cast members, with Richard Shepard now onboard to direct the pilot.Enrique Arrizon, Damian Alcázar, Camila Perez, and Raphael Alejandro will all star alongside Derbez in the half-hour series.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“Young Sheldon” has been renewed for three more seasons at CBS.That means the “Big Bang Theory” prequel series will be on the air until at least 2024. The series debuted in 2017, with its fourth season currently airing.