Pilot Watch: The CW Has Pick of Four Genre Pilots

SciFi Stream looks at the genre pilots in contention for next season on The CW.

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The CW has always been a network friendly to the fantasy and comic book sides of the speculative fiction genre. There’s Buffy, Supernatural, The Secret Circle, and The Vampire Diaries on the one side, and Smallville and Arrow on the other. This year the network looks to be doubling-down and expanding its development slate into more traditional science fiction concepts.

Ironically, however, the network with the most genre shows in development may also be the one with the fewest hours on the schedule left to fill. The CW already programs substantially fewer hours of the week than ABC, CBS, and NBC — and it has already renewed Arrow, The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, Hart of Dixie, Beauty and the Beast … and added Vampire spin-off The Originals.

So although there are many great ideas in development, it’s likely that only one or two may make it to our screens in the fall.

THE HUNDRED
Producers: Jason Rothenberg, Leslie Morgenstein, Gina Girolamo, Bahrat Nalluri, and Matt Miller
Writer: Jason Rothenberg
Starring: Eliza Taylor, Isaiah Washington, Henry Ian Cusick, Marie Avgeropoulos, Paige Turco, Kelly Hu, Christopher Larkin, and Thomas McDonell

Civilization has been destroyed by nuclear war. Ninety-seven years later, a spaceship housing the only survivors of the human race sends 100 juvenile delinquents back to Earth to investigate the possibility of re-colonizing the planet. The series is based on a book series by Kass Morgan.

OXYGEN
Producers: Meredith Averill, Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec, Scott Rosenberg, Richard Shepard, Bryan Furst, Sean Furst, and Daniel Gutman
Writer: Meredith Averill
Starring: Aimee Teegarden, Matt Lanter, Malese Jow, Titus Makin Jr, Grey Damon, Natalie Hall, Chelsea Gilligan, Greg Finley, and Maggie Elizabeth Jones

Ten years after their arrival on earth a young alien refugee and eight others of his kind (the “Orion 9”) are integrated into a suburban high school, while the rest of their species is consigned to an internment camp. The series follows the romance and politics that result when he and a human girl fall in love.

THE SELECTION
Producers: Elizabeth Craft, Sarah Fain, and Alex Graves
Writers: Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain
Starring: Yael Grobglas, Michael Malarkey, Sean Patrick Thomas, Louise Lombard, Peta Sergeant, Celia Massingham, Lucien Laviscount, Sarah Winter, Ben Aldridge, and Melanie Liburd

Three hundred years in the future, 26 women chosen by lottery enter into a televised competition to win the hand of the Royal Prince and become the nation’s next queen. The show’s heroine is a working-class woman who attempts to balance her loyalty to family, kingdom, and true love as she navigates the cutthroat competition and palace intrigue, all while a budding rebellion threatens to topple the crown. The Selection is based on the book by Keira Cass.

It’s a rare second pilot for the concept, which was in consideration last year but didn’t make the cut at The CW. The show was retooled and recast, but Deadline says the pilot has still come in “OK, not great.”

THE TOMORROW PEOPLE
Producers: Phil Klemmer, Julie Plec, Greg Berlanti, and Danny Cannon
Writer: Phil Klemmer
Starring: Robbie Amell, Madeleine Mantock, Peyton List, Luke Mitchell, Mark Pellegrino, and Aaron Yoo

A group of young people from around the world work together to fight the forces of evil. With powers like telepathy and teleportation, they represent the next stage in human evolution. The Tomorrow People is a remake of the classic British series that ran from 1973 to 1979.

If We Had To Pick One Sight Unseen: THE HUNDRED. Give us a post-apocalyptic landscape over more romance and angst any day.

After NBC’s failed attempt at a Wonder Woman show a couple of years ago, The CW also thinks it can do that show right. AMAZON would be a more grounded, real-world take on the DC Comics heroine, cut from the same cloth as this year’s hit Arrow. The network has reportedly shelved the idea and will revisit it next year.

The CW is expected to announce its full line-up for the fall when it makes its upfront presentation to advertisers later this month. Stay tuned to SciFi Stream for the latest on these and other new series!