Nellie Andreeva

2ND UPDATE 11:40 AM: TNT went for a trio of heavy TV hitters with its pilot pickups today, greenlighting Howard Gordon‘s Legends, Jerry Bruckheimer‘s Trooper and Shane Brennan‘s King & Maxwell. All three were originally developed for broadcast networks last season and fall into the procedural category TNT had been looking to mine with its second round of pilot pickups. They join the Michael Bay-produced The Last Ship, which is now casting.

Legends, developed by Gordon, Jeffrey Nachmanoff and feature writer Mark Bomback from the novel by Robert Littell, was originally set up at NBC. It follows a deep-cover operative who has an uncanny ability to transform himself into a different person for each job. Gordon, Nachmanoff, Alex Cary and Jonathan Levin executive produce through Fox 21. It is a big day for Gordon and Cary, who also just landed a rich premium deal at NBC for legal drama Ritter.

1ST UPDATE: TNT has made the second pilot pickup, going with Trooper, the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced procedural, which was set up at CBS last season where it went to pilot with Mira Sorvino as the lead. Trooper centers on a recently divorced female state trooper who is as unconventional at work as she is at home raising her three kids. Her partner on the job is a widowed father who has a much more by-the-book approach to policing. Warner Horizon will produce, with Bruckheimer and Jonathan Littman serving as executive producers. Aron Eli Coleite (Heroes) is the writer/exec producer. Bruckheimer TV’s KristieAnne Reed co-executive produces. This marks Bruckheimer’s return to TNT where he produced cop drama Dark Blue.

PREVIOUS 11:15 AM: TNT is expected to make three pilot orders today. First off is King And Maxwell, a PI drama from author David Baldacci and NCIS boss Shane Brennan. The project, from CBS TV Studios, is based on Baldacci’s popular characters Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, former Secret Service agents whose unique skill set (not to mention their razor-sharp chemistry) often gives them a leg up on both suspects and conventional law enforcement. The project was originally developed for CBS last season and set up at TNT in May. Baldacci serves as a consultant, Brennan wrote and executive produces.

TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.