25 TV Pilots We're Rooting For

Sex and the City creator Michael Patrick King and Punk’d‘s Whitney Cummings present this story of two female Brooklynites (Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist‘s Kat Dennings, pictured at left, and Beth Behrs, right) struggling to make their dreams come true while living in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Star power: King and Dennings

Why we’re excited: The last King/Dennings collaboration resulted in one of the best episodes of Sex ever. (Dennings played an oversexed teenage client of Samantha’s in season 3’s ”Hot Child in the City.”) If they can duplicate the magic of that episode, we’re there!

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It’s a crime procedural with an 1840s twist that imagines famed author Edgar Allan Poe (Chris Egan, pictured) as the world’s very first detective and follows him as he solves the darkest mysteries Boston can offer.

Star power: Tabrett Bethell, who reportedly plays Poe’s muse, Sarah, has a bit of a cult following from her time on Legend of the Seeker, and a few might remember Egan from his short-lived NBC series Kings. Otherwise, Poe‘s working with a relatively unknown cast.

Why we’re excited: The possibilities are endless with the king of macabre.

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Dancing With the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba tries to capture the scripted drama in dance in this collaboration with Grey’s Anatomy producer Krista Vernoff. The story focuses on the dysfunctional relationship between a famed choreographer (Eric Roberts, pictured) and his family.

Star power: Inaba, Roberts, and Abigail Spencer (Angela’s Eyes, HawthoRNe)

Why we’re excited: It kind of sounds like Brothers & Sisters with dancing, which is something we always thought B&S needed more.

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Formerly called Don’t Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23, this show follows a young woman (Gran Torino‘s Dreama Walker) who moves to NYC and finds herself rooming with a partying bad girl played by Krysten Ritter. The kicker? James Van Der Beek (pictured) plays himself on the show.

Star power: Van Der Beek

Why we’re excited: For a chance to see Van Der Beek spoof himself, we can forgive the de-awesomeification of the title.

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J.J. Abrams produces this pilot that mixes time travel, mystery, and a manhunt. It also revolves around Alcatraz Island and the notorious criminals housed there, and stars Sam Neill, Jorge Garcia (pictured), and Robert Forster.

Star power: Abrams and Garcia! Together again!

Why we’re excited: We miss Lost. (Yeah, we’re still not over it.) And we’re not the only ones. The show was picked up!

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The story follows the weekend psychiatrist at Bellevue Hospital’s psychiatric unit.

Star power: Lauren Ambrose (pictured, Torchwood) and Amber Stevens (Greek)

Why we’re excited: One of our favorite episodes of House was the season 6 premiere, where he was in the mental hospital. That gives us confidence that Fox knows how to tackle a weighty subject without smothering it with cheese.

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Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas presents a single-cam comedy about three families united through their kids’ Little League sports.

Star power: Rob Corddry (pictured, Daily Show), Gabrielle Union (FlashForward), and Paula Marshall (Gary Unmarried)

Why we’re excited: In Thomas we trust.

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An offbeat comedy based on a book about a man with cancer (Kyle Bornheimer, pictured) who enlists his friends to help look after his daughters in the event of his death.

Star power: Patrick Breen (Eli Stone) and Bornheimer (Perfect Couples)

Why we’re excited: Sometimes things that don’t sound funny at all turn out to be inappropriately funny, which is our favorite kind.

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This dark and fantastical cop drama from Jim Kouf (Angel) and David Greenwalt (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) is about a world in which characters inspired by Grimm’s Fairy Tales exist.

Star power: David Giuntoli (pictured, Privileged) and Kate Burton (pictured, Grey’s Anatomy)

Why we’re excited: We can’t think of another behind-the-scenes team we’d trust to do the Grimm tales justice.

UPDATE: NBC has picked up the show.

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A single-camera comedy about a magazine writer (Jon Dore, pictured) who immerses himself and his family in his unusual situations for his stories, which always reflect back on his marriage.

Star power: Paget Brewster (Criminal Minds) and Donald Sutherland (Dirty Sexy Money)

Why we’re excited: Yes, we know this pilot getting picked up would mean Brewster wouldn’t be back on Criminal Minds. But we also don’t know that they’d have her back if it wasn’t picked up. We don’t want to take any chances with being Brewster-less.

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Two sisters (Lucy Griffiths, pictured left and Meredith Hagner, right) come of age and face off against each other amid the beginning of a zombie uprising.

Star power: Titus Welliver (The Good Wife)

Why we’re excited: If there was ever going to be the perfect time-slot mate for The Vampire Diaries…

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Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage are among the creative team behind this show about a young New York City doctor who inherits a medical practice in a small Southern town inhabited by an eclectic and eccentric group of characters.

Star power: Rachel Bilson (pictured, The OC) and Jaime King (Gary Unmarried)

Why we’re excited: We’re convinced Gossip Girl duo Savage and Schwartz have many more lascivious tales to tell — and they can be told just as well in the South as they can on the Upper East Side. Maybe even better. Also, TV needs more Rachel Bilson.

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s Sarah Michelle Gellar (pictured) stars as a troubled young woman on the run from the Mob who hides out by inhabiting the life of her wealthy twin sister — until she learns that her twin’s life has a bounty on it as well.

Star power: Gellar, Nestor Carbonell (Lost), Kristoffer Polaha (Life Unexpected), Tara Summers (Damages)

Why we’re excited: We’ll watch anything that brings Gellar back to TV at least once. Especially if there’s a chance of her having to kick a little ass.

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An ultracompetitive surgeon (Little Children‘s Patrick Wilson, pictured) finds his life is changed forever when his ex-wife (Pride and Prejudice‘s Jennifer Ehle) dies and begins teaching him what life is all about from the hereafter.

Star Power: Wilson, Ehle, Julie Benz (No Ordinary Family)

Why we’re excited: Grant’s big-screen writing credits include Erin Brockovich and In Her Shoes, so she knows how to write tension. Patrick Wilson in scrubs is as pleasant an image as Simon Baker in a suit and Alex O’Loughlin in swim trunks.

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A retired NFL player (Rob Riggle, pictured) returns home to his wife (Constance Zimmer) and daughters. It’s loosely based on the life of former NFL star Mark Schlereth.

Star Power: The biggest one is behind the scenes: Mark Wahlberg is among the producers.

Why we’re excited: We’d like to see CBS land the other Wahlberg, and it’s time to see former Daily Show correspondent Riggle take center stage. He’s one of those guys you just like, which could be why we’re getting an Everybody Loves Raymond vibe.

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The prime-time soap from Sex and the City‘s Darren Star finds Amanda (Popular‘s Leslie Bibb, pictured), once the ultimate ”mean girl” in high school, returning home to Dallas after her marriage ends in scandal. Humbled, Amanda is nothing like the girl she once was. But as her old classmates acquaint themselves with the new Amanda, will these ”Good Christian Bitches” give her a second chance or is this their shot at revenge?

Star Power: Bibb, Kristen Chenoweth (Glee), Jennifer Aspen (Glee), Annie Potts (Law & Order: SVU), Miriam Shor (Mildred Pierce), Marisol Nichols (The Gates)

Why we’re excited: Who doesn’t want to see Texas-style catfights from Star, not to mention what ABC will change the title to?

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This sexy soap from Josh Schwartz (Gossip Girl) centers on the young people behind the power brokers of Washington, D.C.

Star Power: James Wolk (pictured, Lone Star), Katie Cassidy (pictured, Gossip Girl), Daisy Betts (Persons Unknown), Joe Mazzello (The Pacific), Condola Rashad (Law & Order: Criminal Intent)

Why we’re excited: This has been a tough scene for TV, and Schwartz and Co., who’ve made the happenings in New York’s Upper East Side and in the O.C. addictive, may just be the right people to do it.

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The modern-day version of the classic butt-kicking-babe show is set in Miami — always hot — and stars Minka Kelly (pictured left, Parenthood), Annie Ilonzeh (middle, General Hospital), and Rachael Taylor (right, Grey’s Anatomy) as the Angels.

Star Power: In addition to the trio, Ramon Rodriguez (The Wire) as Bosley and Robert Wagner (Two and a Half Men) as the voice of Charlie.

Why we’re excited: Drew Barrymore and producing partner Nancy Juvonen are among the EPs and have already proven they can update this show in a fun, empowering way on the big screen. Pilot writers/fellow EPs Alfred Gough and Miles Millar know a little something about the genre from their years on Smallville.

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In this satirical look at life in the suburbs, a quintessential New York City girl moves to a cookie-cutter community only to discover that life in the burbs is more frightening than any horror movie that she’s ever seen. Tonally, this is a heightened view of suburbia with a cinematic quality that evokes the scope and horror of perfection.

Star Power: Jane Levy (pictured, left), Jeremy Sisto (pictured, right), Allie Grant, Carly Chaikin, Alan Tudyk, Cheryl Hines

Why we’re excited: We’ve always found Sisto naturally a bit creepy, and Tudyk and Hines are two people we’d like to laugh at on a weekly basis.

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A father discovers his mute, autistic son can predict the future. We assume that character, played by Kiefer Sutherland (pictured) and written by Tim Kring (Heroes), is the kind that will do something with this information.

Star Power: Sutherland

Why we’re excited: We all miss Jack Bauer, as evidenced by him recently trending on Twitter.

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It’s a workplace ensemble from producers of Aliens in America and Just Shoot Me! set at the Baltimore County coroner’s office starring Office Space‘s Gary Cole (pictured, left).

Star Power: Cole, Robin Givens (pictured, right)

Why we’re excited: Gary Cole always gets us pumped, and we’re hoping after his memorable guest turn on The Good Wife, his taste level is high. Plus, great title.

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The Peacock promises a serious, non-campy take on the DC Comics character with a reboot from David E. Kelley starring Friday Night Lights‘ Adrianne Palicki (pictured).

Star Power: Palicki, Cary Elwes, Elizabeth Hurley

Why we’re excited: If it’s great, good. If it’s bad, even better. We’re pretty sure they’ve had to create new technology to ensure there won’t be a wardrobe malfunction. We’d like to explore that.

UPDATE: NBC has passed on the show.

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Sex and the City creator Michael Patrick King is behind this tale, which follows the complicated life of Allan Mann (Don Johnson!, pictured), a celebrity hairstylist in glamorous Los Angeles, as he navigates the complexities of his business, his family life, and his goal to stay relevant in a world that moves quickly. Ellen Barkin plays his ex-wife.

Star Power: Johnson, Barkin, Caitlin Crosby, Taylor Kinney, Kelly Hu

Why we’re excited: You’ve got to love a comeback, especially one that has the clout of King behind it. Imagining Barkin busting Johnson’s balls — and vice versa — just makes us happy.

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It’s just another workplace comedy…set at Pilgrim Village, a theme park that specializes in re-creations of New England in 1647, run by Ed Begley Jr. (pictured). To be clear, he’s not playing himself. We felt the need to clarify.

Star Power: Begley, Robby Benson, Nick Braun

Why we’re excited: Besides the costumes, it’s from Rescue Me cocreator Peter Tolan, so there has to be some bite. And Pilgrim Village sounds like it could be as fruitful as Parks and Recreation‘s Harvest Festival on a weekly basis.

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The show follows the creation of a Broadway musical from conception to opening night through the eyes of the lyricist (Debra Messing, pictured), the choreographer (Jack Davenport), a producer (Anjelica Huston), and a singer (Katharine McPhee).

Star Power: In addition to the above, it’s exec-produced by Steven Spielberg and Chicago‘s Neil Meron and Craig Zadan.

Why we’re excited: It sounds like Waiting for Guffman meets Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip by way of Glee, and surprisingly — yet perfectly — cast. And apparently NBC agrees: It got picked up!

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