NBC Says They Want J.J. Abrams’ Revolution

Mark Sullivan/WireImage J.J. Abrams

The last thing J.J. Abrams produced for NBC was 2010’s sexy spy-couple show Undercovers, and that was canceled quick. But the network has just given a pilot production commitment to another Abrams show, Revolution, an “epic adventure thriller” for which no other details have been released. Abrams also has series set up at CBS and Fox this season, so either Revolution is good enough to make NBC forgive Undercovers, or they just really didn’t want to feel left out. Grade: B- [HR]

Brad Pitt has been offered a role in All You Need Is Kill, an adaptation of Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s manga comic about a soldier killed in the first day of an alien invasion and then forced to relive the day before his death over and over again. The soldier then spends that time learning ice sculpture and how to woo Andie MacDowell. Grade: B+ [Vulture]

Rob Riggle has signed on for an episode of ABC’s Happy Endings. He’ll be playing a crazy mailman named Drew who joins primary characters Dave and Brad’s basketball game, and turns out to be a bit too aggressive on the court. Fans of puns based on mail delivery and sports phrases, this is your day! Grade: B [HR]

Julia Ormond was originally cast as Superman’s mother in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, but has now been replaced for unspecified reasons by Ayelet Zurer, the Israeli actress who has appeared in Angels & Demons and Munich. This development actually goes a ways toward illuminating a theory we’ve long been exploring in private: Is Superman Jewish? Grade: A [Deadline]

Kings creator Michael Green has landed a show at ABC about a female cop who, while working a case, discovers a magical world that exists within New York City. The name of this magical place? Staten Island. Grade: C+ [Deadline]

The L Word creator Ilene Chaiken’s new show — which revolves around a lesbian couple working as doctors at an inner-city Philadelphia hospital — has landed at NBC. Grade: B [Deadline]

Formerly disgraced memoirist James Frey has teamed up with Jericho creator Jon Steinberg for Legacy, a legal drama about a one-term president who returns to his hometown law firm, where he can handpick cases he’s really passionate about. The first case: a lawsuit contending widespread voter fraud in the last presidential election. Grade: B- [Variety]

Filed Under: Brad Pitt, Grading the Trades, Happy Endings, J.J. Abrams, Man of Steel, Revolution

Amos Barshad has written for New York Magazine, Spin, GQ, XXL, and the Arkansas Times. He is a staff writer for Grantland.

Archive @ AmosBarshad

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