It’s Pilot Season Again

For nearly as long as I have been a contributor here at NiceGirlsTV, I have been compiling a yearly list of “fake” pilots for the major and/or cable networks. For the first several years of this series of articles, I proposed reboots of past hit series or fan favorite shows, but because of the extremely heavy prevalence of reboots, I changed the direction a few years ago, focusing on proposed event series.

This year, however, I decided to dig out some story ideas I created as possible book ideas that I would maybe write “someday.” I came up with these story ideas well over 20 years ago, using them as make-shift therapy (if you will) after the loss of my beloved father, who passed away unexpectedly in 1994.

Grand Dakota is the first story idea set in 1870 in North Dakota, focusing on an immigrant doctor, a young woman returning to her hometown after some personal tragedies and an ex-bounty hunter turned small town sheriff.

You can think of this “fake” pilot as a cross between Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, the late 80’s made-for-TV movie franchise Desperado and the little-known TV western Paradise.

Aidan Turner (Poldark and the original Being Human) would play Dr. William O’Reilly, an Irish immigrant, who hopes to start a clinic in the rugged plains of North Dakota after losing his wife during the long journey to America.

Bridget Regan (The Last Ship and Jane the Virgin) would play Caitlin Shannon, a recent widow, who makes the difficult decision to return to North Dakota to operate the Grand Dakota Hotel established by her late father in 1852. She returns home from Kansas after losing her husband, Michael, to a mine cave-in and losing her only baby during childbirth.

Andrew Walker (When Calls the Heart and the Hallmark movie A Bride for Christmas) would play Sheriff James “Jimmy” Kendall, a former bounty hunter, who decided to retire from the business, taking up the ‘easy life’ in North Dakota.

Morning Sun is the second story idea set in the United States and Vietnam in 1965, focusing on four people from varied backgrounds affected – in different ways – by the Vietnam War.

You can think of this “fake” pilot as a combination of Tour of Duty and China Beach.

Katherine Langford (13 Reasons Why and the box office movie Love, Simon) would play Ashley Harrington, the only daughter of Thomas and Caroline Harrington, the owners of Green Valley Groceries in Arlington, Virginia. She is a recent graduate of the Virginia Medical School, and will soon be working as a nurse for the Arlington Regional Hospital. Her life-long friend, Brandon Hines, has just been drafted and will be shipped off to Vietnam within the week. Since she has been in love with him for most of her life, she is very worried about him.

Colin Ford (Supernatural and Under the Dome) would play Brandon Hines, a soon-to-be college graduate, who thought he was safe from the draft because of his parents Harold and Susan Hines, who own the Arlington Bank and Trust, where he was to begin his internship in a few weeks. The draft notice he receives changes everything including the secret he has been keeping for most of his life: he is deeply in love with Ashley Harrington.

Ryan Guzman (Heroes: Reborn and Pretty Little Liars) would play Lieutenant Ramon Ortiz, one of best “fly boys” in Vietnam, who only has two months left in country. But if he returns to the World (namely his home in New Mexico), he will be leaving all his men behind not to mention leaving behind the Vietnamese girl, Mai Nguyen, for whom he has fallen in love.

Jessica Henwick (Marvel’s Iron Fist/The Defenders and Game of Thrones) would play Mai Nguyen, a young Vietnamese girl who lost her parents and brother in 1962. Then she met Ramon Ortiz, falling deeply in love with him at first sight. As her country is torn apart, she attempts to run the small flower shop owned and operated by her late parents, but the Viet Con have been watching her because of her late father’s association with the Americans. What will happen once Ramon finishes his tour?

Loch and Load is the third and final story set in the late 1990’s in New York City, focusing on an enigmatic CEO of a scientific research center, his prep school days rival – now a powerful attorney – and two female reporters for The Gazette, NYC’s leading newspaper, who both have agendas all their own.

You can think of this “fake” pilot as a cross between Batman, Iron Man and a much darker version of Castle.

Briana Buckmaster (Supernatural) would play Megan Castle [yes, I came up with that name MANY years before the TV series came along], the lead reporter for The Gazette, a graduate of the prestigious Calvin University in New York City, who is all alone in the city as she lost her parents when she was barely a teenager and was an only child. All her free time is spent researching the legendary Kyle Loch, the leading entrepreneur in New York City. She dreams of writing an explosive expose on him.

Theo James (the Divergent and Underworld film franchises) would play Kyle Loch, chairman and CEO of Loch Enterprises, the world’s leading scientific research center, who is known as a highly intelligent recluse, rarely seen in public and estimated to be worth 25 billion dollars.

Sammi Hanratty (Shameless, The Vampire Diaries and Pushing Daisies) would play Cassie Edwards, a rookie reporter at The Gazette, who not only wants Megan Castle’s job but also wants Kyle Loch as her personal piggy bank. She will do anything to get what she wants. But her mysterious past could ruin her career if anyone discovers her true identity.

Marc Bendavid (Dark Matter and the Hallmark made-for-TV movie A Rose for Christmas) would play Jack Calhoun, a powerful attorney at the law firm of Drakes and Monroe, who is out to get everything Kyle Loch owns. They have been bitter rivals since their prep school days. When he and Cassie met, they decide to team up against Kyle and Megan to make their demented wishes come true.

What do you think of these “fake” pilots? Would you like to see them as books first and then be adapted for the small screen? Please let me know what you think of the casting? Do you have any ideas for potential pilots? Please share!

You can check out the one new series that I created as a “fake” pilot last year here.