'Magnum PI,' 'Cagney and Lacey' reboots among six pilot orders at CBS

Joe Otterson

CBS picked up six pilots for the 2018-2019 season, including reboots of “Cagney and Lacey” and “Magnum P.I.”

“Magnum P.I.” is described as an updated version of the original series that follows Thomas Magnum, a decorated ex-Navy SEAL who, upon returning home to Hawaii from Afghanistan, repurposes his military skills to become a private investigator. Tom Selleck played the mustachioed Magnum in the original series.

Peter Lenkov, the writer and producer behind current CBS reboots of “Hawaii Five-O” and “MacGyver,” will serve as the writer and executive producer on the new version of the classic 1980s series, which had previously gotten a pilot production commitment at the network. Eric Guggenheim, an executive producer and writer on Lenkov’s “Hawaii Five-O,” will also write and executive produce. John Davis and John Fox of Davis Entertainment will also executive produce. CBS Television Studios will co-produce with Universal Television.

The original “Magnum P.I.” aired from 1980-1988 for eight seasons and 158 episodes on CBS.

“Cagney and Lacey” will follow the titular female police detectives and friends as they keep the streets of L.A. safe. Bridget Carpenter will serve as writer and executive producer. CBS Television Studios will produce with MGM Television.

Carpenter, who is under an overall deal at CBS Television Studios, recently worked as a consulting producer on HBO’s “Westworld” and has previously produced and written shows like “Friday Night Lights” and “Parenthood.” She also developed the Hulu series “11.22.63.”

The original “Cagney and Lacey” ran for seven seasons and 125 episodes on CBS from 1982 to 1988. The series also spawned four made-for-TV movies in the mid-90s. Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly played the title roles for the vast majority of the series, though Loretta Swit played Cagney in the original two-hour pilot and Meg Foster played Lacey for the first season.

CBS also picked up one other drama with this batch of pilot orders, titled “Chiefs.” The project explores the professional and personal lives of three driven, successful, but very different women who are each Chiefs of Police of their own precincts in L.A. County.

David Hudgins will write and executive produce “Chiefs” with Carol Mendelsohn and Julie Weitz also executive producing. Sony Pictures Television will produce with CBS Television Studios. Hudgins, who is under an overall deal at Sony, previously developed the NBC series “Game of Silence.” He also produced and wrote for “Parenthood,” “Friday Night Lights,” and “Everwood.” Mendelsohn was also an executive producer on “Game of Silence” and served as an executive producer on every iteration of the “CSI” franchise.

CBS has also ordered three multi-camera comedies to pilot.

The first is titled “Here Comes the Neighborhood,” and would follow the nicest guy in the Midwest who moves his family into a tough neighborhood in L.A. where not everyone appreciates his extreme neighborliness. Jim Reynolds will write and executive produce, with Aaron Kaplan, Dana Honor, and Wendi Trilling also executive producing. CBS Television Studios will produce.

Reynolds has worked on “Big Bang” since Season 3. In addition to writing, he has worked on the show as a producer, supervising producer, co-executive producer, and now executive producer. His other credits include “Samantha Who?,” “That’s So Raven,” and “Rodney.”

The next project is called “Fam.” In the show, a woman’s dreams of an upstanding life with her new fiancé and his upstanding family are dashed when her younger train wreck half-sister comes to live with her to escape their train wreck of a father.

Corinne Kingsbury will write and executive produce. David Rosenthal will also executive produce with Kaplan, Honor and Trilling also executive producing.

Finally, the comedy “Pandas in New York” follows a family of Indian doctors with a successful group practice in New York City who embark on a project to arrange their youngest son’s life, unaware he’s made plans of his own.

Ajay Sahgal will write and executive produce. CBS Television Studios will produce. Sahgal has previously wrote for and co-executive produced “The Carmichael Show.”

Advertisement