Wednesday, January 07, 2015
Amazon's First Pilot Season; ABC Family Greenlights Two Comedy Pilots
Amazon Studios announced it will debut its first pilot season of 2015 on Thursday, January 15 on Amazon Instant Video in the US, UK and Germany. Seven drama and comedy pilots will premiere, including hour-long shows Cocked from Samuel Baum (Lie to Me) and Sam Shaw (Manhattan - TV series), Mad Dogs from Cris Cole (The Bill) and Shawn Ryan (The Shield), Man in the High Castle from Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files), and Point of Honor from Carlton Cuse (Lost) and Randall Wallace (Braveheart). In addition, pilots for two half-hour shows will debut, including Down Dog from Robin Schiff (Are You There, Chelsea?) and Salem Rogers from Will Graham (Onion News Network) and newcomer Lindsey Stoddart, along with a documentary series, The New Yorker Presents, inspired by non-fiction and fiction material from one of the most acclaimed and longest running publications, The New Yorker. The New Yorker Presents is Executive Produced by Oscar and Emmy-winning documentarian Alex Gibney (The Armstrong Lie).
Customers will once again be invited to watch and provide feedback on the shows they want to see turned into full series. All pilots will be available via the Amazon Instant Video app on Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Fire tablets, Fire phone, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Roku, Xbox, PlayStation, Wii, as well as hundreds of other connected devices such as smart TVs--or customers can visit Amazon.com/AIV to watch online. Cocked stars Sam Trammell, Jason Lee, Brian Dennehy, Laura Fraser and Dreama Walker. Mad Dogs stars Steve Zahn, Billy Zane, Romany Malco, Michael Imperioli and Ben Chaplin. The Man In The High Castle stars Alexa Davalos, Luke Kleintank, Rupert Evans, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Joel De La Fuente, Rufus Sewell and DJ Qualls. Point of Honor stars Nathan Parsons, Christopher O'Shea, Annabelle Stephenson, Riley Voelkel, Hanna Mangan Lawrence, Patrick Heusinger, Luke Benward, Adrienne Warren, Lucien Laviscount and James Harvey Ward. As for the comedies, Down Dog stars Josh Casaubon, Paget Brewster, Lyndsy Fonseca, Will Greenberg, Andrea Savage, Amir Talai, Kris Kristofferson and Alysia Reiner. And finally, Salem Rogers stars Leslie Bibb, Rachel Dratch, Jane Kaczmarek, Brad Morris, Harry Hamlin, Toks Olagundoye and Scott Adsit. Stay tuned on which make it to series!
We have more pilot news. As part of its expansion in comedy, ABC Family has greenlit two new comedy pilots, Kevin From Work and Tough Cookie. Both pilots are single-camera and will go into production later this month. These orders join the second-season pick up of comedy series Young & Hungry, announced in September. Comedy favorites Melissa and Joey and Baby Daddy will premiere their fourth seasons on January 14 at 8:00pm ET/PT and 8:30pm ET/PT, respectively. Kevin from Work is a half-hour workplace comedy about a young man unluckily in love who professes his love to a co-worker, thinking he'll never see her again after he accepts a job offer overseas. But then that job offer is rescinded, and now they have to continue to work with each other. The pilot is written, created and executive-produced by Barbie Adler (How I Met Your Mother, My Name Is Earl, and Arrested Development).
The half-hour comedy Tough Cookie is a fresh take on the friends-and-family convention. It's centered on a young mother who isn't ready to parent and her daughter who doesn't want to be parented. As everyone knows, it takes a village to raise a child, or rather a child to raise a village. The pilot is written and created by Lauren Iungerich (Awkward), who will also serve as executive producer and direct the pilot. Casting for both pilots have not been announced yet. Stay with us if either of these pilots will make it to series.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Monday, May 19
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 19)
Monday, May 19
- Seth Rogen (The Studio/Platonic/Undeclared) - Watch Seth on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Milly Alcock (Sirens) - Milly appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Bradley Whitford (Perfect Harmony/Trophy Wife) - Bradley is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Tim Robinson (Detroiters) - Tim appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Owen Thiele (Overcompensating) and Amita Rao (Deli Boys) - Owen and Amita are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Meghann Fahy (Sirens) - Meghann talks about Sirens on Live with Kelly and Mark (check your local listings), NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am, and on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
- Sarah Jessica Parker (And Just Like That.../Divorce/Sex and the City/Square Pegs) - Sarah talks about And Just Like That... on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9a.
- Hugh Jackman (Human Resources) - Hugh discusses his Radio City Music Hall residency on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
- Jason Priestley (Call Me Fitz/Sister Kate), Vanessa Morgan (The Latest Buzz) and Giacomo Gianniotti (Backpackers/Selfie) - Jason, Vanessa and Giacomo talk about the dramedy Wild Cards on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
- Blair Underwood (Fatherhood/The New Adventures of Old Christine) - NBC's Today catches up with Blair in the 9am hour.
- Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/One Day at a Time) - It's the time management show on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Luke Kirby (Étoile) - Luke talks about Prime's Étoile on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/08 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
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