TV Pilot Update
5/11/2008
Posted by Nicole
Fox has given series orders to three new television pilots, ahead of their network up-front presentation to advertisers next week. JJ Abram's high-profile sci-fi drama "Fringe" was picked up on Friday along with the sit-com "The Inn." "Fringe stars Joshua Jackson as the son of an institutionalized scientist who aids a female FBI agent in investigating the murky world where science meets the supernatural – "X Files" anyone? "The Inn," described as a modern take on the British comedy "Upstairs/Downstairs," stars Jerry O'Connell (sorry "Carpoolers" fans) in a pilot directed by "Arrested Development" star Jason Bateman.
On the acting front (voice acting anyway), Bateman will appear in Fox's animated comedy from "Development" creator Mitch Hurwitz, "Sit Down, Shut Up." Bateman joins other "AD" alumn Will Arnett and Henry Winkler as well as Cheri Oteri and Nick Kroll, in a series about high school teachers who put their private lives ahead of their jobs – maybe I'm naïve, but isn't that how ALL jobs work? "Sit Down" joined the "Family Guy" spinoff "The Cleveland Show" in receiving an early episode commitment from Fox. I'm not sure how many more animated comedies the network can squeeze onto Sunday Night, but if history is any guide, the Hurwitz show will land in the 7:30 series-killing slot before long.
Dust off your "Save Our Bluths" button here.
Elsewhere on the TV dial, the spinoff of "Beverly Hills 90210" got a boost when Jennie Garth confirmed that she will reprise her role as Kelly Taylor on the series. Speculation as to the move peaked last month when Garth abruptly left the cast of another pilot in production. Though she will not be a series regular, Garth's presence will help attract "90210" devotes back to West Beverly High this fall, according to producers. "Garth will make special guest appearances as her original character Kelly Taylor, a guidance counselor at West Beverly High where our new characters go to school." Yeah, about that - wasn't Kelly supposed to be a fashion designer or something? What happened to her dreams, man? And how has she fallen so far in the past fifteen years? – Tune in and find out, I guess.
Pray that Tori Spelling stays away from this one here.
 

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