Fox US Picks Up Comedy ‘The Cool Kids’, Danny Strong Drama ‘Proven Innocent’ & Drama ‘The Passage’
US network Fox has given out three new series orders this week. One goes to retirement comedy ‘The Cool Kids‘ from the team behind ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’, the second is legal drama ‘Proven Innocent‘ from ‘Empire’ co-creator Danny Strong, and the third is the drama ‘The Passage‘, starring Mark-Paul Gosselaar.
‘The Cool Kids’ follows Three male friends in a retirement community are the top dogs until they’re blown out of the water by the newest member of the community, a female rebel whose ready to challenge their place… It’s basically high school, but with 70-somethings.
The show stars Martin Mull (‘Life in Pieces’, ‘Veep’) as Charlie, David Alan Grier (‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’, ‘Bad Teacher’) as Hank, and Leslie Jordan (‘Will & Grace’, ‘Con Man’, ‘Living the Dream’) as Sid. Vicki Lawrence (‘Hannah Montana’, ‘Laverne & Shirley’, ‘The Love Boat’) stars as the interloping female lead, Margaret.
‘Proven Innocent’ is a legal drama set in a wrongful conviction firm from‘Empire’ co-creator Danny Strong and David Elliot (‘Knightfall’, ‘G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra’). Led by a fierce and fearless female lawyer with a hunger for justice, the team reopens investigations, putting their own lives in danger to exonerate the innocent that were ‘proven’ guilty. Our lead’s motivation comes from her infamous past; as a young adult she was found guilty and later exonerated in a high-profile case in which she became a tabloid sensation, household name and national celebrity. While a hero and a victim to some, her bold and bullish tactics garner her some enemies – one of whom will do anything to see her go down for a crime we know she did not commit. We will watch her defend others as she fights to maintain her own innocence.
The series stars Rachelle Lefevre (‘Under The Dome’, ‘Mary Kills People’), Russell Hornsby (‘Grimm’, ‘In Treatment’), Nikki M. James (‘BrainDead’, ‘The Good Wife’), Vincent Kartheiser (‘Man Men’, ‘Angel’, ‘Casual’), Riley Smith (‘Frequency’, ‘Nashville’) and Clare O’Connor (‘Easy’, ‘Chicago Med’).
‘The Passage’ is an adaptation of Justin Cronin’s trilogy of novels, written by Liz Heldens (‘Deception’, ‘Mercy’) starring Mark-Paul Gosselaar (‘Franklin & Bash’, ‘Saved by the Bell’, ‘CSI’). An epic, character?driven thriller, the show tells the story of a secret government medical facility who were experimenting with a dangerous virus that could either cure all disease or cause the downfall of the human race. The series focuses on a 10?year?old girl named Amy Bellafonte (Saniyya Sidney), who is chosen to be a test subject for this experiment and Brad Wolgast (Gosselaar), the federal agent who becomes her surrogate father as he tries to protect her.
This is the second attempt to bring ‘The Passage’ to screen, as it was pitched and rejected during last years pilot run. However, once it headed back into development with a new director who reshot new and additional footage, it emerged as a favourite for pick up this season. The direction in the pilot is credited to Jason Ensler (‘The Newsroom’, ‘Franklin & Bash’, ‘The Exorcist’) who shot the new footage, and original director Marcos Siega (‘The Following’, ‘The Vampire Diaries’, ‘Blindspot’).
It’s still way too early to hear about UK broadcaster for these shows, but we’ll let you know when we get more.
