Hear
Suzie and Shannon discuss these pilots on Episode 93 of Hexed: Sisterhood of the Supernatural.
It's pilot announcement time! Every year I get so excited when news of new TV pilots come out. Interesting new ideas, projects involving people I love to see, and of course the possibility of even more awesome TV. Then over the weeks and months that follow, we start to hear which one don't make it and I get sad for the possibilities that have faded away. Each year, I promise myself I won't get all excited in anticipation again and every year when the new ideas come out here I find myself yet again, totally excited. I think it's better to just go with the flow, and go with the excitement. Better to get excited than not, I suppose!
With that in mind, I've been digging through the titles in these great summaries by
TV Line and
The Hollywood Report, and I've parsed out the paranormal-inclined shows for us all to get excited about, and because there are so many I've split them in paranormal (or possibly paranormal), science fiction, fantasy, superhero, Canadian (woohoo!) and not-any-of-those-catagories-but-you-still-likely-will-be-interested (mystery/crime/conspiracy). Enjoy!
Paranormal
Or at least hopefully/possibly paranormally-inclined
Gotham
Description: "After pursuing a seemingly unsolvable case, a female cop discovers a magical world that exists within New York City. A world that goes unseen by normal humans takes all of the familiar N.Y. landmarks and reinvents them in a magical, otherworldly manner."
Genre: Unclear, hopefully paranormal, could be speculative fiction
Channel: ABC
Shannon's Take: This one will all be about approach and tone I think, idea sound very intriguing but also kind of like Grimm, and they could go for a fantasy, paranormal, science fiction or speculative fiction vibe so I definitely want to know more.
Isabel
Description: "Inspired by the French-Canadian series Le Monde De Charlotte, a normal angry middle-class family wrestles with the challenges of everyday life while raising a daughter with magical qualities."
Genre: Paranormal
Channel: NBC
Shannon's Take: A daughter with magical qualities? Yep, I'm in. And why haven't I see heard of the French-Canadian version? I guess we don't get much language cross over.
Midnight Sun
Description: "Based on the Israeli series Timrot Ashan, aka Pillars of Smoke, the pilot is a thriller following the mysterious disappearance of a group living on a commune in Alaska. It centers on a female FBI cult specialist starts an investigation that uncovers a larger conspiracy. (Described as Twin Peaks meets Northern Exposure meets Lost.)" and
another description is: "A thriller in which a female FBI cult specialist begins to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a group commune in Alaska who uncovers a larger conspiracy in the process. Based on an Israeli format."
Genre: Unclear
Channel: NBC
Shannon's Take: It's not guaranteed beyond the mention of Twin Peaks and Lost, but a mysterious group disappearance definitely has interesting possibilities.
Revolution
Description: "Follows a group of characters struggling to survive and reunite with loved ones in a world where all forms of energy have mysteriously ceased to exist."
Genre: Paranormal
Channel: NBC
Shannon's Take: Not much info on this one, but the description sounds WILD and I'm very excited to see such high-concept scifi. Count me in!
Fantasy
Beauty and the Beast (ABC)
Description "A fantasy reimagining of the classic fairy tale set in a mythical, dangerous world where a beautiful and tough princess discovers an unlikely connection with a mysterious beast." More
details include: "Scottish actor-singer Darius Campbell has landed the role of Shiro, a beastly bodyguard who forms an unlikely bond with a yet-to-be-cast embattled princess named Grace."
Genre: Fantasy, Setting: "Mythical, Dangerous World" and "Period" so looks like fantasy, and/or historically-set
Channel: ABC
Shannon's take: It's 1 of 2 Beauty and the Beast pilots in the work but with a tough princess, I'll definitely give that a shot.
Beauty and the Beast (CW)
Description: "Loosely based on the 1980s CBS series starring Linda Hamilton, Beauty And The Beast is a modern-day romantic love story with a procedural twist."
Genre: Fantasy
Channel: CW
Shannon's take: Not surprize big on procedural twist, but that's a formula that folks really like so I can understand it, but for me that means it watching will depend more on the characters & their connection especially given that there are 2 Beauty and the Beasts in the works. This one stars Kristin Kreuk & Austin Basis.
Science Fiction
Beautiful People
Description: "An imaginative and thematically rich ensemble “what if” drama set 10 minutes in the future where families of mechanical human beings exist to service the human population — that is until some of the mechanicals begin to “awaken.”"
Genre: Science Fiction
Channel: NBC
Shannon's take: This could be awesome, an I hope it is. I don't dig high society stuff but mechanical human beings... totally scary and I'm totally in.
Joey Dakota
Description: "Based on the Israeli format Danny Hollywood. In this romantic-time-travel-musical, a documentary filmmaker travels back in time to the 1990’s where she meets and falls in love with the rock star subject of her film. When she unexpectedly returns to present day, she must find her way back to the past to reunite with her love and prevent his untimely death."; and
another description is: "Based on the Israeli format Danny Hollywood. In this romantic-time-travel-musical, a documentary filmmaker travels back in time to the 1990’s where she meets and falls in love with the rock star subject of her film. When she unexpectedly returns to present day, she must find her way back to the past to reunite with her love and prevent his untimely death.
Genre: Science Fiction/Musical
Channel: CW
Shannon's take: I always think it's odd to have the combination of romance and time travel, but it's actually a very popular cross-genre combination; the musical/rock star piece is a bit of a wild card for me. I'm curious to hear more.
The Selection
Description: "Based on the forthcoming series of books by Kiera Cass, the series is described as an epic romance set 300 years in the future. The Vampire Diaries' Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain will write and executive produce the drama, which hails from Warner Bros. Television. Teegarden will play a poor young woman who is chosen by lottery to participate in a competition to become the next queen of a war-torn nation at a crossroads. For his part, Peck will play the handsome and regal Prince Maxon, whom the girls are competing to marry." another
Description: "Based on the forthcoming series of books by Kiera Cass, The Selection is an epic romance set 300 years in the future which centers on a poor young woman who is chosen by lottery to participate in a competition to become the next queen of a war-torn nation at a crossroads."
Setting: Futuristic
Channel: CW
Shannon's take: I'm a little leery of something based on not even released yet novels which are described as very similar to one of the hottest series at the moment, although when I *reallY* read the description it's actually more than a few steps removed from the idea of The Hunger Games, with a monarchy feel and a competition to be QUEEN is pretty, well, not that interesting on it's own but if it's a rebel feel or resistant against, there could be a lot more going for it.
Superhero
Arrow
Description: "A modern retelling of the story of DC Comics character Green Arrow." and
another description: "Based on the DC Comics title, published by DC Entertainment, this hourlong drama is a modern retelling of the legendary DC Comics character Green Arrow."
Genre: Superhero
Channel: CW
Shannon's take: So many Greens, so little time! I had to dig in and refresh my superhero memory to find this isn't the same character as either of the Green films last year (Hornet & Lantern), but rather an archery-centric superhero; and that's interesting in the year of both The Hunger Games and Brave. But, I like archery so... yep... I'm in.
Working Class Hero
Description: "The animated comedy is set in a world where superheroing is just another low-paid government job and centers on a dad (Patton Oswalt) whose powers are no match for his misfit superhero co-workers and his demanding family."
Genre: Superhero/Animated
Channel: Fox
Shannon's Take: I'm always up for misfits stories so will be curious to hear how this one develops.
Not Paranormal/SciFi/Fantasy
But Still Interest-Piquing
Cult
Description: "An inquisitive, young female production assistant on a wildly popular television show joins a journalist blogger in investigating the show's rabid fans. Together, the duo finds the fans might be recreating crime scenes from the show in their real lives -- behavior that has lead to a rash of disappearances and a likely murder."
Genre: Crime
Channel: CW
Shannon's take: To be honest I'm including this one as there is a blogger character, which I'm surprized we've not yet seen more of on TV.
Elementary
Description: "Modern take on the cases of the pipe-smoking private eye with Sherlock now living in NYC." and
another description: "A modern take on the cases of Sherlock Holmes, with the famed detective now living in New York City."
Genre: Mystery
Channel: CBS
Shannon's take: I'm actually a little surprized at this considering there is already the quite successful UK re-invisioning Sherlock, but perhaps that is the influence!
Zero Hour
Description: "Centers on a man who, in a bizarre twist of fate, is pulled into one of the most compelling conspiracies in human history after spending 20 years as the editor of a skeptics magazine." and
another description: "A bizarre twist of fate pulls a man who's spent 20 years as the editor of a skeptics magazine into one of the most compelling conspiracies in human history."
Genre: Conspiracy
Channel: ABC
Shannon's take: Likely no paranormal connection here but I do like a good conspiracy, and that's always mystery-centric which can prove interesting.
Can-Con-A-Licious
a.k.a. Previously Announced Canadian Science Fiction
Although not sure exactly when we'll be seeing these, it's always a good time to refresh on the upcoming science fiction series from Space:
Borealis
Description: "Set approximately 30 years in the future, tells the story of a DEADWOOD-like frontier town situated in the high Arctic. The series explores the political, environmental and social impact of a world in which the polar icecaps have melted and countries are vying for the last vestiges of oil in the Arctic."
Genre: Science Fiction/Western
Channel: Space
Shannon's take: I love the idea of combining scifi & western (and of course loved Firefly and the film Outland), it always lends to the possibility of awesome art director and fun themes. Adding the Arctic setting into the mix makes it feel all the more Canadian to boot.
Primeval New World
Description: PRIMEVAL NEW WORLD follows a specialized team of animal experts and scientists that investigates the appearance of temporal anomalies and battles both prehistoric and futuristic creatures. The series boasts new Canadian characters and stories created by an all-Canadian team of writers. Set in Vancouver against the backdrop of the Pacific Northwest, PRIMEVAL: NEW WORLD takes the thrills and gripping storylines that fans of the British series have grown to love and creates something completely unique that’s darker and scarier than the current U.K. series. At the same time, story and character development will move between the two series, uniting different plotlines.
Genre: Science Fiction
Channel: Space
Shannon's take: I've not watched the UK Primeval but every time I catch a glimpse of it I wish I had and now with a Canadian one in the works I might have to catch up. I love that this one is actually SET in Vancouver (woohoo!) and look very much forward to watching it.
That's a lot of TV!
There is so much to take in but out of these newly announced shows the ones that have piqued my interest the most are are definitely
Revolution, Arrow, Cult, The Selection and the two
Beauty and the Beasts along with the Canadian previously announced shows of
Primeval New World and
Borealis.
Which ones do you have your eye on?
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