The Fox legal drama pilot Guilty hasn’t reached the end of the road just yet; the network has extended options for four of the project’s stars, including lead Cuba Gooding, Jr. The extensions have the show still in contention for a spot on the schedule – but it looks like it won’t be a midseason pickup. Instead the drama may make an appearance in the fall of 2013.
Guilty centers on a defense lawyer, played by Gooding, who loses his license after he is set up and falsely convicted of fraud. He then turns to investigating cases on his own time and beneath the radar, trying to solve those cases he was prevented from taking on previously. And overshadowing all this is his ultimate goal – to get back at the people who caused him to lose his license, ruining his brilliant legal career.
The pilot also stars Jay Harrington, Eva Amurri Martion, Julian Morris and Sharon Leal. Of these the first three have had their options extended, apparently Sharon Leal didn’t make the cut. Talks are still in progress for a potential pickup and Fox is said to have plenty of interest in the pilot, so says Deadline. It wasn’t picked up after the upfronts due to the decision on Fox’s part to add only two new dramas, but the network is still looking for a way to take it to series it seems.
Fox has a few holes in the drama area having said goodbye to House and preparing for the departure of Fringe, and it may well depend on how the newly picked up dramas The Mob Doctor and The Following do when they premiere this fall. Mob Doctor is set to fill the hole left by House but Fringe is a tougher show to replace. The Following seems more likely to grab that audience than Guilty. Of course, there remains the question of what else in the drama category might not make it beyond the upcoming season on Fox, leaving space for Guilty.
