CBS Picks Up Bunch Of Shows Inc. ‘Magnum P.I.’, Noah Wyle’s ‘The Red Line’ & Nina Dobrev Comedy ‘Fam’
Hopefully, this will come as some relief from the evening’s slaughter that seems to be going on at the US networks. CBS has announced a bunch of new pickups including the ‘Magnum P.I.‘ remake, Greg Berlanti’s ‘The Red Line‘ starring Noah Wyle and Berlanti’s other show ‘God Friended Me‘, Nina Dobrev’s comedy ‘Fam‘, and ‘The Code‘ from ‘Limitless’ creator Craig Sweeny.
The rebooted ‘Magnum P.I.’ comes from Peter Lenkov and Eric Guggenheim, two of the people behind CBS’s long-running ‘Hawaii Five-O’ series. The basic premise of the new iteration is pretty similar to the classic 80s show, with a few tweaks. Thomas Magnum (Jay Hernandez) is a decorated ex-Navy SEAL who returns from Afghanistan and becomes a private investigator. He’s helped out by ex-Navy buddies Theodore “TC” Calvin and Orville “Rick” Wright (Zachary Knighton). The biggest change comes with the character of Higgins who has been gender-switched in this iteration to be Juliet Higgins (Perdita Weeks), a disavowed former MI:6 agent. Together they, solve crimes, taking on cases no one else will touch, along with exploring the bond between a group of ex-military guys as they deal with the aftermath of war.
Written by Caitlin Parrish (‘Supergirl’, ‘Under the Dome’) and Erica Weiss ‘The Red Line’ examines the aftermath of a police shooting in Chicago where Pete Evans (Noel Fisher – ‘The Long Road Home’, ‘Shameless US’), a white cop, mistakenly shoots and kills a black doctor. The series will follow three connected families, with the story being told from each family’s perspective. Noah Wyle (‘Falling Skies’, ‘ER’) plays Daniel Calder, a dedicated high school teacher and husband to the innocent African-American man who was killed. Daniel now finds himself in mourning and left as a single parent to raise their adopted daughter, Jira (Aliyah Royale). Other cast includes Emayatzy Corinealdi (‘Ballers’, ‘Hand of God’) who plays Jira’s mother, who gave her up for adoption but wants to reconnect, and Michael Patrick Thornton (‘Private Practice’) who is playing Pete’s wheelchair-bound ex-cop brother, Jim Evans, who was shot in the line of duty.
‘God Friended Me’ explores questions of faith, existence and science are explored in a humorous, uplifting series about an outspoken atheist whose life is turned upside down when he is “friended” by God on social media. Unwittingly, he becomes an agent of change in the lives and destinies of others around him. The show stars Brandon Micheal Hall, Violett Beane, Suraj Sharma, Javicia Leslie, Joe Morton.
‘Fam’ is a multi-camera comedy from ‘The Newsroom’ writer Corinne Kingsbury and follows Clem (Dobrev) a young woman who dreams of an upstanding life with her new fiancé Jay. After years of being a bit of a “hot mess”, she’s worked hard to get her life back on track, and finally feels things are going how they should be. As part of portraying this “best version of herself”, she’s told everyone her estranged father, Freddy Banks, is dead… except he’s very much alive… When her train-wreck of a younger half-sister Shannon (Odessa Adlon – ‘Nashville’) shows up trying to escape their train-wreck of a father, her lie is going to be exposed to everyone, putting her “perfect” life with Jay and her upstanding in-laws to be in serious jeopardy.
‘The Code’ comes from Craig Sweeny, creator of the brilliant ‘Limitless’ series, and follows the military’s brightest minds as they take on the US’s toughest challenges inside the courtroom and out, where each attorney is trained as a prosecutor, a defence lawyer, an investigator and a marine. The series stars Anna Wood, Ato Essandoh, Phillipa Soo, and Raffi Barsoumian.
Obviously, it’s way too early for UK broadcasters yet, but we’ll let you know when we hear about pick up on this side of the Atlantic.
