Deadline Kevin Bacon

UPDATE 6:45 PM: No comedy pilots remain in contention at Fox as the network has passed on Rebounding, El Jefe, Prodigy Bully, Little Brother, Let It Go, Like Father and Living Loaded. Rebounding and El Jefe are being shopped to other networks. On the drama side, the only pilot still alive is the Cuba Gooding Jr legal drama Guilty, which was a strong contender for a series pickup. I hear the network brass decided to take a few weeks before making a decision on it, so we won’t hear right away.

Related: Fox Passes On ‘Rebounding’: Will Steve Levitan Ever Again Sell A Show There?

UPDATE 5:30 PM: Here it is — the series pickup of the heavily favored Kevin Williamson drama pilot starring Kevin Bacon, now titled The Following (I hope Fox changes that). Because Bacon committed to only doing 15 episodes a season, the order for the Williamson project will likely be for midseason. The project, from Warner Bros TV, is a thriller about ex-FBI agent Ryan Hardy (Bacon) who leads the search to catch diabolical serial killer Joe Carroll (James Purefoy) who has created a cult of serial killers. Marcos Siega directed the pilot, which co-starred Shawn Ashmore, Natalie Zea, Valorie Curry, Jeananne Goossen, Nico Tortorella, Adan Canto, Billy Brown.

UPDATE 5:15 PM: Fox started its new drama series pickups with the Josh Berman/Robert Wright drama starring Jordana Spiro as a young female thoracic surgeon with Bridgeport roots who juggles two worlds as she juggles her career and her lifelong debt to the South Chicago mob. The series, now titled The Mob Doctor, is produced by Sony TV and executive produced by Berman, Wright and Michael Dinner who directed the pilot. The pickup of Mob Doctor assures a continuation of the medical drama genre on Fox whose veteran series House departs this month. I’m still waiting to get confirmation on the Kevin Williamson powerhouse drama pilot, with Guilty also in strong contention.

PREVIOUS 4:30 PM: Fox just kicked off its new series pickup action with three single-camera comedy orders to the Mindy Kaling project, Ned Fox Is My Manny and The Goodwin Games.

The Mindy Kaling single-camera comedy, now titled It’s Messy, was created by and stars The Office standout as a Young Bridget-Jones type doctor trying to navigate both her personal and professional lives. Fox picked up the project in a turnaround when NBC passed on the script, and the pilot has been a favorite of Fox’s brass from the script stage. It is earmarked as a potential companion for the network’s freshman breakout New Girl. Along with Kaling, Serving as an executive producer on the pilot was her Office co-star BJ Novak. The pickup continues Universal TV’s presence on Fox — the studio also produces the network’s departing drama House. However, House was sold by Universal before its merger with NBC, so this marks the first series order for the recently-revamped Universal TV at Fox or any non-NBC network. Read More »

EXCLUSIVE: Kevin Bacon is headed to primetime. In a big casting coup, I’ve learned that the feature actor is set to topline Kevin Williamson’s Fox drama pilot. This marks the first major series role for Bacon who had been heavily pursued by broadcast and cable networks for years. But in a twist, I hear that Bacon has committed to doing 15 episodes a season vs. the standard 22 for a broadcast series. That lightens the load on the actor who can continue to do multiple features a year and spend time with his family. It also plays into Fox’s strategy of exploring new ways for airing shows, something Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly talked about at TCA last month. The high quality of many cable drama series is being attributed in part to shorter seasons that allows for tighter, more compelling storytelling.

The untitled Kevin Williamson project, from Warner Bros TV and Williamson’s studio-based Outerbanks Entertainment, is described as an edge-of-the-seat thriller about a diabolical serial killer who uses technology to create a cult of serial killers, and a retired FBI profiler (Bacon) who finds himself in the middle of it. The genre of the project and the casting of Bacon is reminiscent of Fox’s signature thriller 24, which also tapped a feature actor, Kiefer Sutherland, for its lead. Marcos Siega recently signed on to direct the pilot, written and executive produced by Williamson, creator of Dawson’s Creek, the hit Scream horror movie franchise and co-creator/executive producer of the CW’s Vampire Diaries and Secret Circle. Read More »