It’s weird to think that it’s pilot season already, but the reality is that US TV never stops. And with new shows filming this spring for airing in the fall, it’s absolutely that time of year. So here’s what’s being worked on that you might care about.
Of note, Greg Berlanti has a show pitched on pretty much every network. He pretty much always brings in queer, but unless the show is up-front talking about queer characters, I’m not going to list it in detail.
ABC
There’s really nothing overtly queer on ABC coming up. The best chance is a Greg Berlanti project about a woman who moves to North Carolina and finds a criminal justice system run entirely by women of colour.
Untitled Marvel Project
I put this with a caution. While the various Marvel supers are reasonably queer on Netflix, they are not on ABC. Which means this series, based on the lesser-known heroes, is probably going to be all queer-bait and no bite. It’s not really fair, though, since I’m going to be holding them up to Legends. Anyway, expect team-ups from people you’ve never heard from, including A-Force, Lady Liberators and Fearless Defenders.
CBS
Everything is cop, cop, cop, medical drama, cop, cop, cop, political drama, cop, cop, cop. And yes, mostly male led. And very little hope.
That said, Gloria Calderón Kellet has two shows in the running and Mike Royce has one. Who are they? Why they’re my heroes from One Day at a Time, and just reading the bylines, I would not be surprised to see them slip a couple queers into the mix.
Secret Six
Our best bet for rep is this. Secret Six is based on the DC comics, which stars Scandal Savage. For those of you who watched season one of Legends of Tomorrow, that’s Vandal Savage’s daughter. She’s not immortal, but she’s damn hard to kill. Also she’s a super big lesbian. I don’t know if she’ll be on the show, but if she is, expect the queer.
This is not made by Berlanti so I suspect it, like Black Lightning, won’t be in the Arrowverse.
The CW
Okay okay okay you know what to expect here. Before we get started, there’s also a Nancy Drew series, about post-high-school Nancy dealing with murder. It’s probably not queer, but it’s the sort of show I like.
Also also! There’s a Jane the Virgin spinoff about Jane narrating her books, which is a cool twist. Riverdale will be pitching a spinoff that is ‘very different’ from Riverdale, and I sure as jingle-jangle hope so!
Batwoman
If you don’t know what this is about, I recommend you read Tracy’s post on her debut and Nikki’s on how queer it is. Tl;dr? Batwoman is suuuuuuuper queer and we want a series.
Glamourous
From Damon Wayans Jr. (Happy Together) and Jordon Nardino (Star Trek Discovery, Quantico, GCB) is the story of a gender on-conforming high school grad who gets the internship of a lifetime for a Manhattan cosmetics company whose products he panned on YouTube.
NBC
While I personally have hopes for Adversaries that’s only because it has Archie Panjabi and I will follow her to the ends of the earth. I’m also personally interested in The Bone Collector only because the books were fascinating. There’s also a new one in the Law & Order series, called Law & Order: Hate Crimes, so I’m pretty sure we’ll have something there. Yay.
The Inn Crowd
A gay couple open an Inn and divide a town. No idea on if they’re male or female. Openly gay actor, Jim Parsons, is an executive producer.
Fox
Fox can be hit or miss when it comes to good representation, and recently they’ve lost the majority of their works due to cancelations. Their best queer rep went to NBC (that would be Brooklyn Nine-Nine). So here’s what we know.
Hanging On
Multicamera comedy by Diablo Cody (Juno) & Sabrina Jalees (Powerless).
Jalees is writing and potentially starring in Hanging On. In it, to escape the boredom of retirement and a strained relationship, Phyllis and her husband make a cross-country move from North Carolina and into a house across the street from their lesbian daughter and her new fiancé. Unexpectedly, moving far away from their old life and being inspired by their daughter’s relationship brings them closer together.
Jalees, who has come out as lesbian, is eyed for the daughter rile. She also will co-executive produce. Cody will executive produce via her Vita Vera Films. Warner Bros. TV and Vita Vera Films will co-produce.
Deadline
This could be interesting and I support lesbians making shows about lesbians.
Mean Jean
Remember that Leah Remini as a lesbian Roseanne type show? The one where she lives with her wife, her ex-husband, and the kids? Right, it was filmed but rejected. Also, I was unable to see the taping (though I had tickets) due to the dates changing so many times.
Sisters
Based on the Australian series, it’s about an only-child who finds out her famous fertility doctor father used his own sperm. Yeah. Ew. She has dozens of brothers, but only two sisters. The original series has one of the sisters as a lesbian, so we shall see. This is a put-pilot, meaning it will see the light of day in one way or another.
Triage
Ilene Chaiken and Zoanne Cleck (from Greys Anatomy) are making a medical drama. There will probably be lesbians. This is a script commitment with penalty, which does not mean we’ll see it, but they will film it.
Honorable Mentions
While not on broadcast TV, there are some other new shows to keep an eye out for:
- Y from FX – Based on the comic “Y: The Last Man,” one of the main comic characters is a lesbian.
- Game of Thrones prequel from HBO – … Right. Probably not great rep.
