ABC is hoping to shoot five pilots this year once it’s determined that it’s safe for productions to get back to work in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The network is picking up the cast options for the five projects that it has committed to producing this year through to September 30.
The pilots being filmed this year include the drama Rebel, starring Katey Sagal and Andy Garcia, Harlem’s Kitchen starring Delroy Lindo, Topher Grace’s Home Economics, and the comedies Bossy and Work Wife. Rolled over into its ‘second cycle’ development are Adopted, National Parks Service, which was formerly known as ISB and Triage. Decisions are still being made about Prospect, Wreckage, and the Untitled Kapnek/Holland Project, which was formerly known as Wild Child.
Rebel follows Annie “Rebel” Bello who is a blue-collar legal advocate without a law degree. She’s a funny, messy, brilliant and fearless woman who cares desperately about the causes she fights for and the people she loves. When Rebel applies herself to a fight she believes in, she will win at almost any cost. The series is inspired by the life of Erin Brockovich and also stars John Corbett, James Lesure, Tamala Jones, Ariela Barer, & Lex Scott Davis.
On Harlem’s Kitchen, Executive Chef and patriarch Ellis Rice runs a successful fine-dining restaurant in Harlem with his wife and three daughters. But an unexpected death thrusts the family into turmoil and puts the restaurant’s future in jeopardy as long-buried secrets are revealed. The series also stars Sheryl Lee Ralph, Miguel Gomez, Clare-Hope Ashitey, Adrianna Mitchell, & Pepi Sonuga.
Bossy follows a diva boss with no patience for working parents that adopts a baby and has a change of heart, casting her mother-of-three assistant as an unlikely mentor and upending the office dynamics. The cast for Bossy has yet to be set and the pilot is getting the go-ahead based solely on the script that ABC has read. Topher Grace’s Home Economics follows three adult siblings: one in the 1%, one middle class, and one barely holding on. As of now, Topher Grace is the only confirmed casting on the show.
Work Wife, inspired by the life of Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest, is the story of a platonic male/female team whose professional success, personal friendship, and ability to share deodorant makes their lives work. Set in the world of real estate, Dani and Scott have taken the leap to start their own team. Now feeling the stress of being the boss, they have to rely on the yin-yang of their dynamic more than ever to keep their professional and personal lives afloat. The show stars Angelique Cabral, Tone Bell & Kelly Ripa, who will recur on the series.
