Three more drama pilots got the greenlight from CBS, Deadline reports; they’ve ordered pilots for the project by Goodfellas writer Nicholas Pileggi, and another to be directed by Christopher Columbus, as well as drama centered on a female hacker/police detective crime solving duo called Quean.
The Nicholas Pileggi drama is the only one yet untitled, but the one that I find the most interesting. It will tell the true story of Ralph Lamb, a rodeo cowboy who, back in the 1960’s, became the Sheriff of Las Vegas. The project started life as a feature film project but was sidelined when MGM filed for bankruptcy. It joins a line of shows set in the 1960’s, but will hopefully see more Mad Men success and not follow in the footsteps of The Playboy Club and possibly Pan Am.
Applebaum, directed by Harry Potter and The Lightning Thief director Christopher Columbus, is based on the Mommy Track Mysteries book series by Ayelet Waldman, which tells the story of a stay at home mom who has given up her career as a public defender and now turns to private investigating to curtail her boredom at home with the kids. The books seem to have done well, but the plotline is sure to have real stay at home moms rolling their eyes a little at the idea that the gig is in anyway boring or leaves any energy for chasing down anyone other than toddlers.
Finally, they’ve also given the greenlight to Quean which focuses on a female hacker whose description sounds vaguely like Lisbeth Salander from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The hacker works with a police detective in Oakland to help solve crimes. The pilot comes from Ilene Chaiken and Joel Silver, who have teamed up with CBS in the past for Hail Mary and also have several other projects in the works.
