ABC, Shonda Rhimes Break the News

Zap2It.com | January 28, 2009

Shonda Rhimes

Discuss this story now

'Grey's Anatomy' creator among those getting pilot orders

The creators of "Grey's Anatomy" and "Prison Break" have booked pilot projects at ABC and FOX, while NBC is getting back in business with a recently sacked "Heroes" producer.

Shonda Rhimes will executive produce a drama about the TV-news business called "Inside the Box," the showbiz trade papers report, while "Prison Break's" Paul Scheuring is behind the globe-spanning drama "Masterwork." And apparently there aren't too many hard feelings between former "Heroes" writer-producer Jesse Alexander, who was let go earlier in the season, and NBC, which ordered his sci-fi pilot "Day One."

ABC has also picked up two other pilots: "I, Claudia" is about a young lawyer who will one day become a presidential contender, and an untitled show from "Dexter" scribe Daniel Cerone about a cop and his 11-year-old genius of a brother.

Rhimes has delved into the world of TV journalism before. In 2006 she sold a pilot to ABC about a group of female correspondents but later set it aside to concentrate on the "Grey's" spinoff "Private Practice." She'll be an exec producer of "Inside the Box," which is set at a network's Washington bureau.

Richard E. Robbins, a former producer for ABC's "Peter Jennings Reporting" and an Oscar nominee last year for the documentary "Operation Homecoming," wrote the script.

Cerone's ABC pilot is based on an Argentine show called "Brothers and Detectives" and is about a cop who discovers the existence of his brilliant little brother after their father's death. The boy's intellect also comes in handy in working cases.

"I, Claudia" comes from writer John Scott Shepherd ("Life or Something Like It") and will frame its present-day story with the notion that its lead character will one day have a shot at the presidency. Shepherd is exec producing with Matt Gross ("Dirty Sexy Money").

At NBC, Alexander is creating "Day One," about a group of people's attempts to rebuild civilization after a global catastrophe. In addition to "Heroes," Alexander has worked on "Lost" and "Alias."

Finally, FOX's "Masterwork" follows a team that's trying to recover precious artifacts from around the world. Scheuring is executive producing the pilot, which if it goes to series is expected to film in several international locations.