Once again, we’d like to apologize for getting so far behind on the All-Pilot Project. But you have to admit, some of these pilots have been pretty rough. However, if we don’t get caught up, we’re never going to get to ABC’s Defying Gravity, which turned out to be Grey’s Anatomy in space. It is just as bad as it sounds, and we are very enthused to write about it. So let’s knock back some of those pilots that we should have written about back in April.
Southland
NBC
The Premise: A gritty drama about a rookie cop and his partner. It’s more character-driven than procedural, which is a welcome change.
The Personnel: The OC’s Benjamin McKenzie stars as the rookie Ben Sherman. There are a lot of people in the cast you’ll recognize, even if you don’t know their names. Everybody from Ponyboy to Brenda’s prom and the voice of Booster Gold show up here. L. Scott Caldwell (Rose from Lost) has a small role too. Sadly, she didn’t bring Vincent with her. The creator is Ann Biderman, who also wrote the screenplay to Smilla’s Sense of Snow, and if you remember when that was a thing, congratulations.