After confirming it would be taking the JJ Abrams-created “Undercovers” to series earlier in the week, NBC has officially picked up three more pilots to series for the 2010-11 season.
The network confirmed that drama “The Event” and comedies “Love Bites” and “Outsourced” will be on the roster next year.
“The Event”‘s pickup is particularly noteworthy amid a DeadlineHollywood report that “24” executive producer Evan Katz is finalizing a deal to become the series’ showrunner. Between that story and the “24”-esque premise, “The Event” seems to be NBC’s message that it did not make a mistake in refraining from picking up the aforementioned FOX drama, which ends its run this year.
NBC’s official synopsis:
“The Event” is an emotional high-octane conspiracy thriller that follows Sean Walker (Jason Ritter, “The Class”), an Everyman who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his fiancée, Leila (Sarah Roemer, “Disturbia”), and unwittingly begins to expose the biggest cover-up in U.S. history. Sean’s quest will send ripples through the lives of an eclectic band of strangers, including: newly elected U.S. President Martinez (Blair Underwood, “Dirty Sexy Money”); Sophia (Emmy Award nominee Laura Innes, “ER”), who is the leader of a mysterious group of detainees; and Sean’s shadowy father-in-law (Scott Patterson, “Gilmore Girls”). Their futures are on a collision course in a global conspiracy that could ultimately change the fate of mankind.
Predictably, NBC also scooped up comedy series “Love Bites,” which stars Becki Newton and Jordana Spiro. The last two single girls in their group of friends, the Newton and Spiro characters serve as the centerpiece for the hourlong anthology, which also welcomes weekly guest stars in vignettes and short stories about their own successes and failures in love.
Given “Ugly Betty” actress Newton’s high-profile–she was believed to be the most sought-after female comedic talent this season–the pickup was a no-brainer. NBC’s official synopsis:
From Emmy Award-winning writer-producer Cindy Chupack (“Sex and the City”), “Love Bites” is an hour-long romantic comedy anthology series featuring three loosely connected, modern stories of love, sex, marriage and dating. Each episode contains multiple vignettes, all illuminating the theme of love with an edgy, irreverent spin.
Becki Newton (“Ugly Betty”) stars as Annie and Jordana Spiro (“My Boys”) stars as Frannie, the last two single girls standing after all of their friends get married. Annie is an infectiously bubbly optimist and Frannie is an always-a-bridesmaid realist. Their story will anchor the series, while other romantically-challenged characters will come and go each week.
The pilot’s guest cast includes Jennifer Love Hewitt (“Ghost Whisperer”), Greg Grunberg (“Heroes”), Craig Robinson (“The Office”), Jason Lewis (“Sex and the City”), Lindsay Price (“Lipstick Jungle”), Larry Wilmore (“The Daily Show”), Charlyne Yi (“Knocked Up”), Pamela Adlon (“Californication”), Stacy Galina (“Hidden Hills”), Brian Hallisay (“Privileged”), Kyle Howard (“My Boys”) and Steve Howey (“Bride Wars”).
The Peacock also picked up sitcom “Outsourced,” which follows Ben Rappaport as he moves to India and deals with the culture clash of running an outsourced call center for his stereotypically-American corporation. NBC’s synopsis:
“Outsourced” is a comedy where the Midwest meets the exotic East in a hilarious culture clash. The series centers on the all-American company Mid America Novelties that sells whoopee cushions, foam fingers and wallets made of bacon — and whose call center has suddenly been outsourced to India. Todd Dempsy (Ben Rappaport, off-Broadway’s “The Gingerbread House”) is the new company’s manager who learns that he’s being transferred to India to run the operation.
Overwhelmed, Todd discovers that his new staff needs a crash course in all things American if they are to understand the U.S. product line and ramp up sales from halfway around the world. But as strange as America seems to his eclectic sales team, Todd soon realizes that figuring out India will be more than a full-time job. Rizwan Manji (“Privileged”), Sacha Dhawan (BBC’s “Five Days II”), Rebecca Hazlewood (BBC’s “Doctors”), Parvesh Cheena (“Help Me Help You”), and Anisha Nagarajan (Broadway’s “Bombay Dreams”) also star as members of Dempsy’s off-shore team; Diedrich Bader (“The Drew Carey Show”) and Jessica Gower (Network Ten’s “The Secret Life of Us”) additionally star.