As the 2011-2012 TV season draws to a close, networks are preparing for next fall. Dozens of new pilots are being cast and filmed with the hope of being picked up and placed on a network’s fall schedule. As the saying goes, many will enter, but few will win.
Check Out THR’s Complete List of 2012 Pilots>>
With the pilots still in their early stages (some don’t even have titles or stars yet), it’s easy to pick out a few that seem the most interesting. Last year at this time I made my picks for the 10 new pilots I most wanted to see, and four of them actually made it to air (Ringer, The Secret Circle, Alcatraz and Person of Interest).
Here are my picks for the pilots I’m most excited about this year, and hopefully when fall roles around we’ll be seeing quite a few of them on TV.
#10 Malibu Country (ABC)
Premise: A woman (Reba McEntire) divorces her rock star husband and moves her three kids and her mother from Nashville to Malibu, California to start a music career.
Why I Want to See It: I love Reba. A lot. I thought her WB sitcom was funny, and more importantly, this show co-stars Lily Tomlin and Sara Rue. That’s a grade-A female cast, though I acknowledge that a multi-camera sitcom on ABC isn’t the best idea.
#9 The Selection (The CW)
Premise: Three hundred years in the future, a poor girl (Aimee Teegarden) is chosen by lottery to compete to become the next queen of a war-torn country.
Why I Want to See It: Who isn’t excited about the prospect of a Hunger Games-esque TV series starring the coach’s daughter from Friday Night Lights and Ethan Peck, the brooding bad boy from TV’s 10 Things I Hate About You?
#8 Partners (CBS)
Premise: Two architects, one gay and one straight, are best friends and deal with their own separate relationships.
Why I Want to See It: For four seasons Michael Urie was one of the best things about Ugly Betty, and it’s great to see him get a more prominent role as one of the two architects. Throw in Brandon Routh as his boyfriend and One Tree Hill’s Sophia Bush and you have a cast so weird I want to see it.
#7 Let It Go (FOX)
Premise: A married couple, along with the husband’s best friend and the wife’s sister, deal with life in this sitcom,
Why I Want to See It: Yes, the premise sounds like every generic relationship comedy on TV, but Chuck‘s Zachary Levi is the star, and for that alone, I want it.
#6 Arrow (The CW)
Premise: A modern reboot of the iconic superhero Green Arrow.
Why I Want to See It: Green Arrow was the best part of the final seasons of Smallville, and while this new show has nothing to do with that, it has an interesting cast (Hung‘s Stephen Amell, The River‘s Paul Blackthorne and Katie Cassidy, among others) and a solid writing pedigree with Greg Berlanti (Everwood, Brothers and Sisters).
#5 Elementary (CBS)
Premise: A modern retelling of Sherlock Holmes set in New York.
Why I Want to See It: The Brits have their own Sherlock Holmes revamp series, so why can’t we have one too? Jonny Lee Miller is a great choice for the lead role (I’ve loved him recently in Dexter and Eli Stone) and Lucy Liu as his Watson is very interesting.
#4 Cult (The CW)
Premise: A TV show production assistant and a blogger team up to solve crimes that resemble those on the TV show.
Why I Want to See It: It has an insanely cool, meta premise, and more importantly, the star of the TV show within the show is played by Prison Break‘s Robert Knepper, who is amazing. And they recently cast The Vampire Diaries star Matt Davis as the blogger, which makes this cast doubly exciting.
#3 Untitled Kevin Williamson Serial Killer Drama (FOX)
Premise: An ex-FBI agent (Kevin Bacon) leads a search for a serial killer (James Purefoy) who has created his own cult of serial killers.
Why I Want to See It: I love both Kevins involved (Bacon and Williamson) and a show about a group of serial killers sounds awesome.
#2 666 Park Ave. (ABC)
Premise: A young couple agrees to manage a New York City apartment building where supernatural occurrences put the tenants’ lives in danger.
Why I Want to See It: It sounds kind of silly and soapy and could be a perfect companion to something like Revenge. Also, it has a killer cast with Dave Annable from Brothers and Sisters, Robert Buckley from One Tree Hill, Vanessa Williams from Desperate Housewives and Terry O’Quinn from Lost.
#1 Revolution (NBC)
Premise: A group of people fight to survive and reunite with their loved ones in a world where all forms of energy mysteriously disappear.
Why I Want to See It: It’s written by Supernatural‘s Eric Kripke and produced by Lost‘s J.J. Abrams. So basically, this show is taking the men behind two of the biggest shows on the Internet and uniting them. Plus, one of the stars is Breaking Bad‘s Giancarlo Esposito.
Which new pilots are you most excited about?
(Image courtesy of WENN)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
