The CW Picks Up ‘Katy Keene’ & ‘Nancy Drew’ To Series. ‘The Lost Boys’ Being Reworked & ‘Jane the Novela’ Dropped.
On the back of the news that ‘Batwoman’ would be joining The CW, the US network announced the status of their other new pilots. ‘Riverdale’ spin-off ‘Katy Keene‘ has been picked up to series, along with their ‘Nancy Drew‘ series. However, ‘The Lost Boys’ tv show has been sent back for more work, whilst the network has passed on ‘Jane The Virgin’ spin-off, ‘Jane the Novela’.
‘Katy Keene’ is a musical dramedy centred on the lives and loves of four iconic Archie Comics characters, including fashion legend-to-be Katy Keene and singer/songwriter Josie (of the Pussycats) McCoy (played again by ‘Riverdale’s Ashleigh Murray), as they chase their twenty-something dreams in New York City. This story chronicles the origins and struggles of four aspiring artists trying to make it on Broadway, on the runway and in the recording studio.
Lucy Hale (‘Pretty Little Liars’) stars as the twenty-something New Yorker who aspires to be a fashion designer. When she’s not working as a personal shopper at a luxury department store, she’s navigating friendship and dating in the big city. Her world is populated with kindred-spirit starving artists, including mysterious socialite Pepper Smith (Julia Chan – ‘Saving Hope’) and Broadway-bound performer Jorge Lopez – and his drag queen alter-ego, Ginger (Jonny Beauchamp – ‘Penny Dreadful’).
The show comes from ‘Riverdale’ creator Robert Aguirre-Sacasa and ‘Riverdale’ co-executive producer Michael Grassi. It is exec produced by Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Jon Goldwater (Archie Comics CEO and Publisher).
‘Nancy Drew’ is set in the summer after high school graduation when the 18-year-old Nancy (newcomer Kennedy McMann) thought she’d be leaving her hometown for college. But when a family tragedy holds her back another year, she finds herself embroiled in a ghostly murder investigation – and along the way, uncovers secrets that run deeper than she ever imagined.
The series comes from the duo behind ‘Gossip Girl’ & ‘Runaways’, Josh Schwartz & Stephanie Savage. Schwartz & Savage will serve as exec producers alongside Melinda Hsu Taylor and Lis Rowinski. ‘The Magicians’ writer Noga Landau penned the pilot script.
Regarding the other pilots, ‘The Lost Boys’ still has a chance of appearing, but not before it goes back for some more work. Based on the classic ’80s movie, the drama is set in Santa Carla, California, a town with a beautiful boardwalk, all the cotton candy you can eat… and a secret underworld of vampires. It seems The CW didn’t feel the pilot was as strong as they would have liked, and have sent the producers back to do some reworking and possible recasting. The current pilot was led by ‘Teen Wolf’ star Tyler Posey, so we’ll have to see if he survives when it is re-piloted and presented again at a later date.
‘Jane The Virgin’ spin-off, ‘Jane the Novela’ is not moving forward at The CW, so that just leaves ‘Glamorous’ as the last pilot at the network still in contention for pick up. The drama follows Marco (Ben J. Pierce – ‘Fuller House’), a gender-nonconforming recent high school graduate lands the gig of a lifetime interning at a cosmetics company whose products he panned on YouTube. Cast also includes Peyton List, Susan Santiago, Chester Lockhart, Brady Dalton Richards, Brooke Shields, Jade Payton, and Pierson Fodé.
We have no idea yet where ‘Katy Keene‘ or ‘Nancy Drew‘ may end up in the UK, but we’ll let you know when we hear something.
