My Top Pilot Choices for Fall TV

Just like every other year, the major networks are working on a number of pilots to be considered for pick-up for the 2019-2020 TV season this fall.

As of a few days ago, no real decisions have been made by ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC or The CW as to which pilots will be picked up for this fall, but there are 35 dramas under consideration for the primetime line-up later this year.

I’ve looked over all of those dramas fairly extensively, and while there are a handful – combined from the five major networks – that would be fun or interesting to watch on TV this fall, I decided to pick one drams from each of the five as my top pilot pick for the new TV season.

Here goes…

Over on ABC, my pick is the new mystery series called Triangle. The tagline for the pilot is perhaps a little reminiscent of Lost: What if the Bermuda Triangle was not a watery grave in the middle of the ocean, but a land lost in time that has trapped travelers over the course of human history? When a family is shipwrecked in this strange land, they must band together with a group of like-minded inhabitants — from throughout history — to survive and somehow find a way home.

I have to admit that some of the casting for this pilot is the main reason for my interest in Triangle. Among the cast is Mike Vogel from the short-lived NBC military drama The Brave (which some of us NiceGirls really enjoyed last year) and Under the Dome; Edwin Hodge, who I enjoyed watching in the recently defunct military drama Six and also had a small role in Sleepy Hollow (he’s younger brother is Leverage alum Aldis Hodge too); Mallory Jansen, who was Aida [the robot] on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Matt Passmore, who I adored watching in The Glades.

You can check out information on all of the dramas under consideration at ABC here.

My choice for CBS is the drama The Republic of Sarah that will star Grey’s Anatomy alum Sarah Drew – who I have adored since her days on Everwood, playing girlfriend to Chris Pratt’s character Bright Abbott. The series is about a small New Hampshire town that is thrust onto the world stage when the discovery of a valuable resource within its borders compels the residents to declare themselves an independent nation, setting the unlikely young mayor and her cabinet of inexperienced locals on the path of running a brand new country. The cast will include Kirsten Nelson, the one and only Chief Vick from Psych.

You can check out information on all of the dramas under consideration at CBS here.

As for FOX, my top choice is the dramedy Lovestruck, in which the entire first season will take place over the course of single night at a wedding. As we get to know the wedding party, we’ll learn surprising reveals about both their present and past. We’ll see that things aren’t always what they seem and explore the complicated bonds of love, friendship and family at different stages of life.

Once again, I’m interested in the show because of some of the cast members, which includes Rachel Bilson from Hart of Dixie, The O.C. and the short-lived Take Two; Beth Riesgraf from Leverage, Andie MacDowell from Cedar Cove and the one and only Kathleen Turner from Romancing the Stone.

You can check out information on all of the dramas under consideration at FOX here.

Where NBC is concerned, the new drama Lincoln – based on The Bone Collector best-selling book series by Jeffery Deaver – will focus on Lincoln Rhyme, a legendary forensic criminologist who was seriously injured during his hunt for the diabolic serial killer known as the Bone Collector. Called back into action when the killer re-emerges, Lincoln forms a unique partnership with Amelia Sachs, a young beat cop who helps him hunt the deadly mastermind while also taking on the most high-profile cases in the NYPD.

Among the cast are Russell Hornsby – currently being seen on Proven Innocent and was in the long-running fairytale-themed NBC drama Grimm – and Arielle Kebbel from Midnight, Texas as well as a number of Hallmark Channel movies.

You can check out information on all of the dramas under consideration at NBC here.

Lastly, there is The CW which will hopefully have the spin-off Jane the Novela on their schedule in the fall. Of course, the show is a telenovela anthology series in the tradition of Jane the Virgin, where each season will be based on a different fictional novel “written by” Jane Villanueva and narrated by the author herself. The first installment takes place at a Napa Valley Vineyard, where family secrets (and family members) don’t stay buried for long.

Among the cast will be Gina Rodriguez (of course, but this time doing the voice over), Jane the Virgin alum Ivonne Coll; Holland Roden from Teen Wolf fame; Marcia Cross from Desperate Housewives and Hunter Parrish from Quantico and Weeds.

You can check out information on all of the dramas under consideration at The CW here.

The networks will announce which shows will actually make it on the primetime line-up this fall in May when the network upfront presentations are made to the New York advertisers.