LPP Crew Predict 2018 ABC Pilot Pickups

Updated 5/11 4:54 pm: The Kids are Alright is picked up. False Profits’ fate will be determined at a later date. All other series have been passed on.

Updated 5/11 3:31 pm: The Fix has been ordered to series.

Updated 5/11 2:56 pm: Whisky Cavalier and Grand Hotel picked up to series.

Updated 5/11 2:05 pm: Single Parents picked up to series.

FanBoy: 13 correct

Kyle: 9 correct

Alex: 6 correct

ABC has announced their development slate for the 2017-18 television city. As we head into the upfront presentation in May, we will find out which of the following shows will make the cut for the upcoming season. In anticipation, the Laughing Place Podcast Crew have made their picks regarding which shows they believe will be picked up to series. Do you agree?

Note: Most of these shows have no imagery available, so we have found some fun Disney related images to act as placeholders.

A Million Little Things:

Adventure Thru Inner Space

They say friendship isn’t one big thing, it’s A Million Little Things and that’s true for a group of friends from Boston who bonded under unexpected circumstances. Some have achieved success, others are struggling in their careers and relationships, but all of them feel stuck in life. After one of them dies unexpectedly, it’s just the wake up call the others need to finally start living. Along the way they discover that friends may be the one thing to save them from themselves.

Will it Make It?

FanBoy: Yes
Alex: Yes
Kyle: Yes

Status: Picked Up

Crazy Wonderful

Inspired by Bobby’s childhood growing up with a genius father with mental illness, this uplifting single camera comedy features a dysfunctional family that perseveres despite their differences and finds happiness in unexpected places. After moving to a new town, fifteen year-old Lola wants what most teenagers want, to fit in. Having a father, Buzz, with ‘a beautiful mind’ doesn’t make that easy. Buzz often mortifies Lola with his public meltdowns and manic plans, but with some help from her no-nonsense mom Keri-Ann and the rest of her colorful family, Lola will learn to appreciate the brilliance, insight and magic that Buzz brings into their everyday lives. She may never be a ‘normal’ teen, but she gets to celebrate Christmas-ween in July.

Will it Make It?

FanBoy: No
Alex: No
Kyle: No

Status: Not Picked Up

False Profits

The series follows a team of down-and-out women in suburban Arizona as they fight their way to the top of the cutthroat world of a multi-level marketing cosmetics business.

Will it Make It?

FanBoy: No
Alex: Yes
Kyle: Yes

For Love

Hope Castille is devastated after losing her fiancé, Charlie, in a car accident. Now, five years later, she is ready to move on with new love Gabriel, the son of one of the most prominent and powerful families in New Orleans, the Dumaines. But when Hope receives a call from someone claiming to be Charlie, her world is sent in a tailspin and her new relationship is endangered. Is it a hoax? Is Charlie alive? Could he be reaching out from the other side? As Hope tries to get to the bottom of this mystery, she also starts to learn that there’s more to the Dumaines than meets the eye. For Love is a supernatural romance that explores underground magic and the very powerful forces at work in modern day New Orleans.

Will it Make It?

FanBoy: No
Alex: No
Kyle: No

Status: Not Picked Up

Get Christie Love

When the CIA gets their toughest missions and needs the very best person for the job they say “GET CHRISTIE LOVE”! The revolutionary 1970s ABC movie and TV series of the same name gets a modern spin in this high-adrenaline, action-packed series. Christie Love (Kylie Bunbury) is the CIA’s best spy, kicking ass and keeping the world safe, while also leading a team of the very best. But Christie’s complicated personal life belies her tough exterior. She is having an affair with fellow spy Sang, but she is haunted by the relationship that destroyed her many years ago. When she is contacted by someone who reminds her of her lost love, Christie finds her personal and professional lives on a crash course.

Will it Make It?

FanBoy: No
Alex: Yes
Kyle: Yes

Status: Not Picked Up

Grand Hotel

Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel

Eva Longoria executive produces this bold, provocative drama set at the last family-owned hotel in multicultural Miami Beach. Charismatic Santiago Mendoza (Academy Award nominee Demián Bichir) owns the hotel, while his glamorous second wife Gigi (Roselyn Sanchez), and their adult children enjoy the spoils of success. The hotel’s loyal staff round out a contemporary, fresh take on an upstairs/downstairs story. Wealthy and beautiful guests bask in luxury, but scandals, escalating debt, and explosive secrets hide beneath the picture perfect exterior.

Will it Make It?

FanBoy: Yes
Alex: Yes
Kyle: No

Status: Picked Up

Man of the House

Inspired by writer Frank Pines’ real life, this multi/single-camera hybrid family comedy centers on two recently-divorced, very different, sisters who, against their better judgment, move in together to raise their collective kids – two girls and one boy – under one roof in the suburbs of Miami. Jessie (Alyson Hannigan) is a sensitive social worker and overprotective mom to teen football star Bradley, and happy-because-she’s-in-denial preteen Blair. Jessie’s sister Charli is a beautiful, overly-confident, take-no-prisoners mom who gets her way with everyone, except maybe her beautiful teenage mini-me of a daughter, Elena. Our story begins when Jessie’s husband unexpectedly dumps her, and she moves her kids in with her sister Charli, but what no one expects is that Charli immediately decides to kick-out her own husband, creating a new blended family where, no matter how much they irritate each other, they love and need one another, and are all going to be better off. Sure, her whole life Charli has always been the “alpha” with Jessie (and with everyone else), and she’s certain her ways of parenting (and doing everything, frankly) are superior, but the big secret is that softie Jessie is actually the rock of this family. These two sisters are going to lean on each other more than ever to raise these kids and, as Bradley oscillates between the hyper-male world of high school football and the hyper-female world at home, this group of women is going to teach him how to be a better man, whether he likes it or not.

Will it Make It?

FanBoy: Yes
Alex: Yes
Kyle: Yes

Status: Not Picked Up

Most Likely To

Yvette Nicole Brown with Elena of Avalor

Back in the ’90s, Markie McQueen (Yvette Nicole Brown) was a high school outcast who was mercilessly bullied by wealthy, popular Liz Cooney. Twenty-plus years later, the tables have turned: Markie is a successful businesswoman, beloved and respected by everyone in small-town Glenfield, Missouri; Liz is a Beverly Hills trophy wife returning to Glenfield with her tail between her legs. When these two single moms find themselves unexpectedly raising their kids under the same roof, they don’t expect to get along. But sometimes the least likely things happen under the strangest of circumstances.

Will it Make It?

FanBoy: Yes
Alex: Yes
Kyle: Yes

Status: Not Picked Up

Salvage

Ex-cop Jimmy Hill (Toby Kebbell) just wants to be left alone after moving back to his small Gulf coast Florida hometown. But when there’s a suspicious drowning, an idealistic deputy (Catalina Sandino Moreno) draws him into the case that she’s been stopped from solving. The stakes are raised when Jimmy finds a connection between the mysterious death and the sunken Spanish treasure that Jimmy, his father (Will Patton), and other fortune seekers have been trying to find for decades. If the gold is within reach, taking on the case will pit him against the powerful town patriarch (Jim Belushi), outside criminals, and his own father.

Will it Make It?

FanBoy: No
Alex: No
Kyle: No

Status: Not Picked Up

Single Parents

Sultan with his Daughter Jasmine

An ensemble comedy that follows a group of single parents as they lean on each other to help raise their seven-year-old kids and maintain some kind of personal lives outside of parenthood. The series begins when the group meets Will, a 30-something guy who’s been so focused on raising his daughter that he’s lost sight of who he is as a man. When the other single parents see just how far down the rabbit hole of PTA, parenting, and princesses Will has gone, they band together to get him out in the dating world and make him realize that being a great parent doesn’t mean sacrificing everything about your own identity.

Will it Make It?

FanBoy: Yes
Alex: No
Kyle: No

Status: Picked Up

Southern Hospitality

Rebecca (Annaleigh Ashford) left her family’s Texas ranch resort years ago to work at the upscale St. Regis hotel in New York, but after being beckoned home by her smooth-talking cowboy dad Beau (John Laroquette), she’s back and ready to utilize her big city tactics to turn their rustic ranch into a destination resort oozing Southern hospitality. However, getting her sister Leanne (sweet as a honeybee but with double the stinger) and brother Roy (a sickly, small man-child who somehow still inherited his dad’s lothario ways) to fall in line with her vision will be the real thorn in Rebecca’s side. And that’s going to be even harder once Beau reveals a life-changing family secret.

Will it Make It?

FanBoy: No
Alex: Yes
Kyle: Yes

Status: Not Picked Up

Steps

Ginnifer Goodwin

This family comedy follows four adults in three houses raising three kids after two divorces… and ultimately forming one big, weird family. At the center of the show are nouveau hippy Bea (Ginnifer Goodwin) who recently left her happily misanthropic ex-husband Louie (Barry Rothbart) and is moving in with Paul (Kyle Bornheimer), an elementary school teacher who is eager to be with someone who is nice to him after being recently left by his ex, the driven, high-powered Genevieve (Ryan Michelle Bathe). As the boundaries blur amongst these families, they will see that it really does take a village to raise these kids in their new, more complicated lives (even if the village citizens end up in some uncomfortable scenarios). Based on the Swedish format by the same name

Will it Make It?

FanBoy: No
Alex: Yes
Kyle: Yes

Status: Not Picked Up

The Fix

Fix-It Felix Jr

Attorney and author Marcia Clark co-writes and executive produces a new legal drama about Maya Travis, an L.A. district attorney who suffers a devastating defeat when prosecuting an A-list actor for double murder. With her high profile career derailed, she flees for a quieter life in Oregon. Eight years later when this same celebrity is under suspicion for another murder, Maya is lured back to the DA’s office for another chance at justice.

Will it Make It?

FanBoy: No
Alex: No
Kyle: Yes

Status: Picked Up

The Greatest American Hero

Greatest American Hero

Inspired by the 1980s TV show of the same name, The Greatest American Hero centers around Meera (Hannah Simone), a 30-something Indian-American woman, who loves tequila and karaoke and has spent the last 30ish years searching and failing to find meaning in her life. Pressure mounts as her younger sister’s wedding approaches and highlights to Meera’s traditional Indian family that yes, she is STILL single with an unimpressive job. All seems lost until an inexplicable event occurs that will change the course of Meera’s life forever: she is entrusted with a super suit to protect the planet. Meera may have finally found purpose, but the world has never been in more unreliable hands.

Will it Make It?

FanBoy: Yes
Alex: Yes
Kyle: Yes

Status: Not Picked Up

The Mission

Mission Tortilla Factory

When a San Francisco Police Captain is arrested for corruption, the lives of the cops under his command don’t stop. Our ensemble must navigate their own colorful and complicated lives both on and off the beat while focusing on a local gang about to make the streets more dangerous and an armed criminal that is on the loose.

Will it Make It?

FanBoy: No
Alex: Yes
Kyle: No

Status: Not Picked Up

The Rookie

Disney’s The Rookie

Starting over isn’t easy, especially for small town guy John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) who, after a life altering incident, is pursuing his dream of being an LAPD officer. As the force’s oldest rookie, he’s met with skepticism from some higher ups who see him as just a walking midlife crisis. If he can’t keep up with the young cops and the criminals, he’ll be risking lives including his own. But if he can use his life experience, determination, and sense of humor to give him an edge, he may just become a success in this new chapter of his life.

Will it Make It?

FanBoy: Yes
Alex: Yes
Kyle: Yes

Status: Picked Up

Untitled Holmes Sisters

The Great Mouse Detective

Untitled Holmes Sisters is an hour-long episodic drama that chronicles the lives of five African-American sisters, all officers in the NYPD, as they face the challenges of their high-risk jobs while juggling the responsibilities of marriage, motherhood, and family. Raised in the borough of Queens by working-class parents, the Kendrick sisters are New York’s finest. Untitled is from writer/executive producer Pam Veasey, director/executive producer Regina King, and executive producer Robin Roberts.

Will it Make It?

FanBoy: No
Alex: Yes
Kyle: Yes

Status: Not Picked Up

Untitled John Noble Project

Set at a high-end resort, this workplace ensemble comedy centers on Ellie (Kat Dennings) and Gabe, two guest service associates, and the co-workers and needy guests that they’re stuck with for sixteen-hour shifts. Ellie wonders if she’ll ever find her true passion in life and has taken this desk job just to make ends meet. The one thing that she knows for sure is that she wouldn’t make it through a single day without the support of her best friend, Gabe. The staff will often find themselves in a slew of predicaments, as they try to dodge Ellie’s nemesis and their boss, Belinda (Elizabeth Ho) and her new assistant manager, the hotel owner’s lovably incompetent son, Gordon (Derek Richardson). Based on the book and blog How May We Hate You.

Will it Make It?

FanBoy: No
Alex: Yes
Kyle: No

Status: Not Picked Up

Untitled Tim Doyle Project (The Kids are Alright)

Tim Doyle

Set in the 1970s, this ensemble comedy follows a traditional Irish-Catholic family, The Clearys, as they navigate changes big and small during one of America’s most turbulent decades. In a working-class neighborhood outside Los Angeles, Mike (strong, silent dad played by Michael Cudlitz) and Peggy (overbearing mom played by Mary McCormack) raise eight boisterous boys who live out their days with little supervision. The household is turned upside down when oldest son, Lawrence, returns home and announces he’s quitting the seminary to go off and “save the world.” Times are changing and this family will never be the same. Ten people, three bedrooms, one bathroom, and everyone in it for themselves. Inspired by the childhood of writer/executive producer Tim Doyle.

Will it Make It?

FanBoy: No
Alex: No
Kyle: Yes

Status: Picked Up

Whiskey Cavalier

Scott Foley

Whiskey Cavalier is a high-octane hour-long action dramedy that follows the adventures of tough but tender FBI super agent Will Chase, played by Scott Foley, (codename: “WHISKEY CAVALIER”) who, following an emotional break-up, is assigned to work with badass CIA operative Francesca “Frankie” Trowbridge, played by Lauren Cohan, codename: “FIERY TRIBUNE”). Together, they lead an inter-agency team of flawed, funny, heroic spies who periodically save the world (and each other) while navigating the rocky roads of friendship, romance and office politics.

Will it Make It?

FanBoy: Yes
Alex: No
Kyle: Yes