Late Thursday evening, ABC decided to (slowly) unveil its series orders for the 2014-15 season. Pilots making it on the schedule include dramas American Crime, Forever, How to Get Away With Murder & The Whispers and comedies Black-Ish, Galavant, Manhattan Love Story and Selfie. The network has also announced a straight-to-series order for Marvel drama Agent Carter. More are expected to be announced shortly.
Agent Carter follows the story of Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) following the events of 2011 film Captain America: The First Avenger. It's 1946, and peace has dealt Peggy Carter a serious blow as she finds herself marginalized when the men return home from fighting abroad. Working for the covert SSR (Strategic Scientific Reserve), Peggy must balance doing administrative work and going on secret missions for Howard Stark all while trying to navigate life as a single woman in America, in the wake of losing the love of her life - Steve Rogers.
Steve McFeely and Christopher Marcus wrote the pilot and will serve as executive producers, alongside Jeph Loeb. Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters are executive producers/showrunners.
American Crime tells the story of humble city Modesto - far inland from San Francisco and surrounded by farmland. Parts are pastoral, while others are grittier with rising crime due to gangs, drug trafficking and addiction. All over the news are reports about a young couple who were attacked in their home. Matt Skokie, a war vet, was killed and his wife, Lily, was raped and beaten unconscious. This tragedy sends shock waves into the community, stirring up tensions across racial lines, and connecting victims, suspects and their families. Matt's father Chuck (Timothy Hutton) has flown in from Arizona for the grim job of identifying his son's body. He and his ex-wife Barb (Felicity Huffman) haven't seen each other in a long time and she is still angry with Chuck for his gambling addiction that destroyed their family. Barb became a struggling single mom and regrets having to raise Matt and his brother in public housing - as the only white kids there, they were badly treated. Chuck got the help he needed to overcome his addiction, but it took a lot of time to repair his relationship with his sons. They are at the hospital with Lily's parents, Tom and a tearful Eve, watching over their unconscious daughter. They still believe there is life in her, but doctors tell them that they are pessimistic that she will ever recover, even if she wakes up. The two couples have to decide whether they talk to the press. Tom and Eve are not ready, but Barb wants to keep the story front page so the people who did this to their children are arrested. It's been several days and no arrests. But that will soon change. The police are about to arrest four suspects. There's teenager Tony Gutiérrez raised by single father, Alonzo. He insisted that Tony and his daughter, Jenny, steer clear of gangs and trouble. But, Tony rented out a car from his father's garage to a thug named Hector Tontz... mainly because he was too scared to refuse. Because that car was at the scene of the crime, Tony is arrested. Later, Hector is arrested with force after he was caught using Matt's credit card. Police get Hector, who proclaims his innocence, to give up petty crook Carter. He and his 20-year-old white girlfriend, Aubrey, are methheads and always looking to buy. They are broke and desperate, and have a knack for finding trouble, like at a club when black girls beat by Aubrey for being with a 'brother.' Cops burst into their apartment and arrest the couple. Is it possible they knew the victims? The investigation takes a turn when a search of the couple's home reveals a disturbing secret. The case has just gotten bigger and the players will have their lives torn apart.
The cast also includes Benito Martinez, W. Earl Brown, Penelope Ann Miller, Elvis Nolasco, Caitlin Gerard, Richard Cabral and Jonny Ortiz.
The pilot was written and directed by 12 Years a Slave Oscar winner John Ridley. ABC Studios will produce.
Black-ish: Andre "Dre" Johnson (Anthony Anderson) is about to be promoted to Vice President of Relevant Advertising. He and his physician wife, Rainbow (Tracee Ellis Ross), are living the American dream: great careers, four beautiful kids, and a Colonial home in an upper middle class neighborhood. However, Dre starts to see his perfect life differently when he discovers that he's being promoted to "Urban" VP at his firm and in the same week, his son announces that he wants to have a Bar Mitzvah. All of a sudden it hits Dre: Has success brought too much assimilation? Is his family out of touch with their own identity? Dre's opinionated, old school father, Pops (Laurence Fishburne), and his liberal wife have very different opinions about how Dre should handle the promotion and Dre Jr.'s birthday request. But Dre has it all under control. In order to prove that he hasn't lost touch with his roots, he presents an extreme version of an "urban" marketing campaign at work that raises more than a few eyebrows. He also decides to throw an African Rites of Passage ceremony for his mortified son. Ultimately, Dre's family helps him realize that the best way to live is by embracing the new while honoring the past. He decides to throw his son a hip hop Bro Mitzvah and the successful event inspires him to create a multi-cultural ad campaign that wows everyone at the office. Living the American dream isn't easy, but Dre is determined to find a way to hold onto his cultural identity while embracing a new future.
The pilot was written and is loosely inspired by the life of Kenya Barris. Larry Wilmore will serve as showrunner. Executive producers include Anderson, Fishburne, Helen Sugland, Tom Russo, Peter Principato, Paul Young and Brian Dobbins. ABC Studios, Cinema Gypsy and Principato Young Entertainment will produce.
Forever: Doctor Henry Morgan (Ioan Gruffudd), New York City's star medical examiner, has a secret. He doesn't just study the dead to solve criminal cases, he does it to solve the mystery that has eluded him for 200 years - the answer to his own inexplicable immortality. This long life has given Henry remarkable observation skills which impresses his new partner Detective Jo Martinez (Alana De La Garza). Each week, a new case and their budding friendship will reveal layers of Henry's long and colorful past. Only his best friend and confidant, Abe (Judd Hirsch) knows Henry's secret.
Also starring are Joel David Moore, Barbara Eve Harris and Donnie Keshawarz.
The pilot was written by Matthew Miller and directed by Brad Anderson. Executive producers are Dan Lin and Jennifer Gwartz. Warner Bros. Television and Lin Pictures will produce.
Galavant: Dan Fogelman teams up with Broadway and Hollywood's award-winning musical team - composer Alan Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater - for a musical comedy fairytale of epic proportions. Once upon a time, the dashing hero Galavant (Joshua Sasse) was a slayer of dragons, protector of the innocent, and defender of the less fortunate. But one day, the evil King Richard (Timothy Omundson) fell for Galavant's ladylove Madalena and kidnapped her. On Madalena and King Richard's wedding day, Galavant courageously fought his way back to the palace to rescue his life. And while this is where most fairytales end happily ever after, its where the tale of Galavant truly begins. Madalena stuns Galavant when she announces that she chooses fame, fortune, and the crown over Galavant and breaks his heart. Five years later, we rejoin Galavant, heartbroken and drowning his sorrows in drink. Having given up on heroics, he's a bit out of shape and flat broke. But his faithful squire Sid sees a momentous opportunity when Princess Isabella of Valencia arrives in search of "The Great Galavant." She asks him to save her kingdom from its evil invader... none other than King Richard himself. Galavant must get back in the saddle, literally and figuratively, to take revenge on his nemesis, win back Madalena, and restore his "happily ever after." But our fallen hero doesn't realize that Isabella might not be revealing the whole story... Our hero's quest for redemption will have many twists and turns along the way. And as one of the songs from Menken and Slater proclaims: "Huzzah And Tally-Ho! Sit Back and Here We Go!"
The cast also includes Karen David, Vinnie Jones, Mallory Jansen and Luke Youngblood. ABC Studios will produce.
How to Get Away With Murder: Michaela, Wes, Laurel and Patrick are ambitious first year law students at a prestigious cutthroat East Coast Law School where only the best students are gievn a shot at participating in real cases. They compete against each other at all costs for the attention of brilliant, charismatic and seductive Professor Annalise DeWitt (Viola Davis) in Criminal law 101 aka How to Get Away With Murder. Professor DeWitt is a master litigator and invites all four of these students who want to work on a high profile murder case. She manipulates them into doing dirty legal legwork like seducing someone to gain insight in the prosecution's case, or digging up dirt to discredit the star witness. Wes even witnesses Annalise having an affair, and soon learns her lover is actually an unwitting pawn on the witness stand. She wins her case with ease and the students question just how far they are willing to go to earn a seat next to her in a courtroom on the next case. Although they know this formidable professor is dangerous, they will need her help, four months later, when they find themselves arguing out in the woods standing over a dead body.
Also starring are Matt McGorry, Aja Naomi King, Jack Falahee, Alfred Enoch, Karla Kouza, Charlie Weber, Liza Weil, Katie Findlay, Billy Brown and Tom Verica.
The pilot was written by Peter Nowalk and directed by Michael Offer. Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers serve as executive producers. ABC Studios and Shondaland will produce.
Manhattan Love Story: A single-camera laugher described as this: Have you ever wondered what your date was thinking? This romantic comedy exposes the differences between men and women through the unfiltered thoughts, and often contradictory actions, of a new couple who have just begun dating.
The cast includes Analeigh Tipton, Jake McDorman, Jade Catta-Preta, Nicolas Wright, Chloe Wepper and Kurt Fuller.
Jeff Lowell wrote the pilot and will executive produce with Peter Traugott. ABC Studios and Brillstein Entertainment Partners will produce.
Selfie: "Instafamous" Eliza Dooley (Karen Gillan) has 263,000 followers who hang on to her every post, tweet and selfie. But one lonely day she has a revelation: being friended is not the same as having actual friends. She asks marketing guru Henry (John Cho) to 'rebrand' her self-obsessed reputation and teach her how to connect with people in the real world. Loosely based on My Fair Lady, Selfie explores the modern struggles of Eliza and Henry, as he tries to teach her how to live life offline - whether she 'likes' it or not.
Also starring are Tim Peper, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Allyn Rachel, David Harewood and Natasha Henstridge.
The pilot was written by Emily Kapnek and directed by Julie Anne Robinson. Warner Bros. Television and Piece of Pie Productions will produce.
In The Whispers, an unseen alien force has figured out a human weakness - parents have a soft spot for their children. They have invaded earth and are using our most unlikely resource to achieve world domination - our children. In the country's center of political power, Washington DC, several kids have been talking about their imaginary friend, Drill. What the parents don't know is this friend is not as imaginary as they assume. Drill is able to entice the kids to play very dangerous games with very real consequences. FBI agent Claire Bennigan (Lily Rabe) has been called in to investigate the case of a 6-year-old girl who almost killed her mother playing a game with her imaginary friend. She wonders if this girl is disturbed or is there something bigger at play. Meanwhile, halfway across the world, the defense department just sent Wes Lawrence (Barry Sloane) to the Sahara Desert, where he witnesses what looks like an alien spaceship and something else even more inexplicable. Someone needs to start putting the pieces together to save humanity. As the game clock counts down, and the children unwittingly help the aliens, it's a suspenseful race against an unseen enemy.
The cast also includes Milo Ventimiglia, Derek Webster, Brianna Brown, Catalina Denis and Kyle Harrison Breitkopf.
The pilot was written by Soo Hugh and directed by Mark Romanek. Executive producers include Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank and Dawn Olmstead. ABC Studios, Amblin Television and Grady Girl Productions will produce.
Steve McFeely and Christopher Marcus wrote the pilot and will serve as executive producers, alongside Jeph Loeb. Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters are executive producers/showrunners.
American Crime tells the story of humble city Modesto - far inland from San Francisco and surrounded by farmland. Parts are pastoral, while others are grittier with rising crime due to gangs, drug trafficking and addiction. All over the news are reports about a young couple who were attacked in their home. Matt Skokie, a war vet, was killed and his wife, Lily, was raped and beaten unconscious. This tragedy sends shock waves into the community, stirring up tensions across racial lines, and connecting victims, suspects and their families. Matt's father Chuck (Timothy Hutton) has flown in from Arizona for the grim job of identifying his son's body. He and his ex-wife Barb (Felicity Huffman) haven't seen each other in a long time and she is still angry with Chuck for his gambling addiction that destroyed their family. Barb became a struggling single mom and regrets having to raise Matt and his brother in public housing - as the only white kids there, they were badly treated. Chuck got the help he needed to overcome his addiction, but it took a lot of time to repair his relationship with his sons. They are at the hospital with Lily's parents, Tom and a tearful Eve, watching over their unconscious daughter. They still believe there is life in her, but doctors tell them that they are pessimistic that she will ever recover, even if she wakes up. The two couples have to decide whether they talk to the press. Tom and Eve are not ready, but Barb wants to keep the story front page so the people who did this to their children are arrested. It's been several days and no arrests. But that will soon change. The police are about to arrest four suspects. There's teenager Tony Gutiérrez raised by single father, Alonzo. He insisted that Tony and his daughter, Jenny, steer clear of gangs and trouble. But, Tony rented out a car from his father's garage to a thug named Hector Tontz... mainly because he was too scared to refuse. Because that car was at the scene of the crime, Tony is arrested. Later, Hector is arrested with force after he was caught using Matt's credit card. Police get Hector, who proclaims his innocence, to give up petty crook Carter. He and his 20-year-old white girlfriend, Aubrey, are methheads and always looking to buy. They are broke and desperate, and have a knack for finding trouble, like at a club when black girls beat by Aubrey for being with a 'brother.' Cops burst into their apartment and arrest the couple. Is it possible they knew the victims? The investigation takes a turn when a search of the couple's home reveals a disturbing secret. The case has just gotten bigger and the players will have their lives torn apart.
The cast also includes Benito Martinez, W. Earl Brown, Penelope Ann Miller, Elvis Nolasco, Caitlin Gerard, Richard Cabral and Jonny Ortiz.
The pilot was written and directed by 12 Years a Slave Oscar winner John Ridley. ABC Studios will produce.
Black-ish: Andre "Dre" Johnson (Anthony Anderson) is about to be promoted to Vice President of Relevant Advertising. He and his physician wife, Rainbow (Tracee Ellis Ross), are living the American dream: great careers, four beautiful kids, and a Colonial home in an upper middle class neighborhood. However, Dre starts to see his perfect life differently when he discovers that he's being promoted to "Urban" VP at his firm and in the same week, his son announces that he wants to have a Bar Mitzvah. All of a sudden it hits Dre: Has success brought too much assimilation? Is his family out of touch with their own identity? Dre's opinionated, old school father, Pops (Laurence Fishburne), and his liberal wife have very different opinions about how Dre should handle the promotion and Dre Jr.'s birthday request. But Dre has it all under control. In order to prove that he hasn't lost touch with his roots, he presents an extreme version of an "urban" marketing campaign at work that raises more than a few eyebrows. He also decides to throw an African Rites of Passage ceremony for his mortified son. Ultimately, Dre's family helps him realize that the best way to live is by embracing the new while honoring the past. He decides to throw his son a hip hop Bro Mitzvah and the successful event inspires him to create a multi-cultural ad campaign that wows everyone at the office. Living the American dream isn't easy, but Dre is determined to find a way to hold onto his cultural identity while embracing a new future.
The pilot was written and is loosely inspired by the life of Kenya Barris. Larry Wilmore will serve as showrunner. Executive producers include Anderson, Fishburne, Helen Sugland, Tom Russo, Peter Principato, Paul Young and Brian Dobbins. ABC Studios, Cinema Gypsy and Principato Young Entertainment will produce.
Forever: Doctor Henry Morgan (Ioan Gruffudd), New York City's star medical examiner, has a secret. He doesn't just study the dead to solve criminal cases, he does it to solve the mystery that has eluded him for 200 years - the answer to his own inexplicable immortality. This long life has given Henry remarkable observation skills which impresses his new partner Detective Jo Martinez (Alana De La Garza). Each week, a new case and their budding friendship will reveal layers of Henry's long and colorful past. Only his best friend and confidant, Abe (Judd Hirsch) knows Henry's secret.
Also starring are Joel David Moore, Barbara Eve Harris and Donnie Keshawarz.
The pilot was written by Matthew Miller and directed by Brad Anderson. Executive producers are Dan Lin and Jennifer Gwartz. Warner Bros. Television and Lin Pictures will produce.
Galavant: Dan Fogelman teams up with Broadway and Hollywood's award-winning musical team - composer Alan Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater - for a musical comedy fairytale of epic proportions. Once upon a time, the dashing hero Galavant (Joshua Sasse) was a slayer of dragons, protector of the innocent, and defender of the less fortunate. But one day, the evil King Richard (Timothy Omundson) fell for Galavant's ladylove Madalena and kidnapped her. On Madalena and King Richard's wedding day, Galavant courageously fought his way back to the palace to rescue his life. And while this is where most fairytales end happily ever after, its where the tale of Galavant truly begins. Madalena stuns Galavant when she announces that she chooses fame, fortune, and the crown over Galavant and breaks his heart. Five years later, we rejoin Galavant, heartbroken and drowning his sorrows in drink. Having given up on heroics, he's a bit out of shape and flat broke. But his faithful squire Sid sees a momentous opportunity when Princess Isabella of Valencia arrives in search of "The Great Galavant." She asks him to save her kingdom from its evil invader... none other than King Richard himself. Galavant must get back in the saddle, literally and figuratively, to take revenge on his nemesis, win back Madalena, and restore his "happily ever after." But our fallen hero doesn't realize that Isabella might not be revealing the whole story... Our hero's quest for redemption will have many twists and turns along the way. And as one of the songs from Menken and Slater proclaims: "Huzzah And Tally-Ho! Sit Back and Here We Go!"
The cast also includes Karen David, Vinnie Jones, Mallory Jansen and Luke Youngblood. ABC Studios will produce.
How to Get Away With Murder: Michaela, Wes, Laurel and Patrick are ambitious first year law students at a prestigious cutthroat East Coast Law School where only the best students are gievn a shot at participating in real cases. They compete against each other at all costs for the attention of brilliant, charismatic and seductive Professor Annalise DeWitt (Viola Davis) in Criminal law 101 aka How to Get Away With Murder. Professor DeWitt is a master litigator and invites all four of these students who want to work on a high profile murder case. She manipulates them into doing dirty legal legwork like seducing someone to gain insight in the prosecution's case, or digging up dirt to discredit the star witness. Wes even witnesses Annalise having an affair, and soon learns her lover is actually an unwitting pawn on the witness stand. She wins her case with ease and the students question just how far they are willing to go to earn a seat next to her in a courtroom on the next case. Although they know this formidable professor is dangerous, they will need her help, four months later, when they find themselves arguing out in the woods standing over a dead body.
Also starring are Matt McGorry, Aja Naomi King, Jack Falahee, Alfred Enoch, Karla Kouza, Charlie Weber, Liza Weil, Katie Findlay, Billy Brown and Tom Verica.
The pilot was written by Peter Nowalk and directed by Michael Offer. Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers serve as executive producers. ABC Studios and Shondaland will produce.
Manhattan Love Story: A single-camera laugher described as this: Have you ever wondered what your date was thinking? This romantic comedy exposes the differences between men and women through the unfiltered thoughts, and often contradictory actions, of a new couple who have just begun dating.
The cast includes Analeigh Tipton, Jake McDorman, Jade Catta-Preta, Nicolas Wright, Chloe Wepper and Kurt Fuller.
Jeff Lowell wrote the pilot and will executive produce with Peter Traugott. ABC Studios and Brillstein Entertainment Partners will produce.
Selfie: "Instafamous" Eliza Dooley (Karen Gillan) has 263,000 followers who hang on to her every post, tweet and selfie. But one lonely day she has a revelation: being friended is not the same as having actual friends. She asks marketing guru Henry (John Cho) to 'rebrand' her self-obsessed reputation and teach her how to connect with people in the real world. Loosely based on My Fair Lady, Selfie explores the modern struggles of Eliza and Henry, as he tries to teach her how to live life offline - whether she 'likes' it or not.
Also starring are Tim Peper, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Allyn Rachel, David Harewood and Natasha Henstridge.
The pilot was written by Emily Kapnek and directed by Julie Anne Robinson. Warner Bros. Television and Piece of Pie Productions will produce.
In The Whispers, an unseen alien force has figured out a human weakness - parents have a soft spot for their children. They have invaded earth and are using our most unlikely resource to achieve world domination - our children. In the country's center of political power, Washington DC, several kids have been talking about their imaginary friend, Drill. What the parents don't know is this friend is not as imaginary as they assume. Drill is able to entice the kids to play very dangerous games with very real consequences. FBI agent Claire Bennigan (Lily Rabe) has been called in to investigate the case of a 6-year-old girl who almost killed her mother playing a game with her imaginary friend. She wonders if this girl is disturbed or is there something bigger at play. Meanwhile, halfway across the world, the defense department just sent Wes Lawrence (Barry Sloane) to the Sahara Desert, where he witnesses what looks like an alien spaceship and something else even more inexplicable. Someone needs to start putting the pieces together to save humanity. As the game clock counts down, and the children unwittingly help the aliens, it's a suspenseful race against an unseen enemy.
The cast also includes Milo Ventimiglia, Derek Webster, Brianna Brown, Catalina Denis and Kyle Harrison Breitkopf.
The pilot was written by Soo Hugh and directed by Mark Romanek. Executive producers include Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank and Dawn Olmstead. ABC Studios, Amblin Television and Grady Girl Productions will produce.
