CBS joined the pilot frenzy on Tuesday, ordering Beverly Hills Cop, a crime drama from Hart Hanson and a comedy from Friends producer Dana Klein.
The drama order to Beverly Hills Cop was widely anticipated as the project from The Shield's Shawn Ryan and star Eddie Murphy has already cast Brandon T. Jackson in the starring role.
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Cop is a follow-up to the Murphy franchise and centers on Foley's son, Aaron (Jackson), a cop working in Beverly Hills as he does his part to escape his famous father's shadow. Murphy will reprise his role as the wisecracking detective in the pilot from Sony Pictures Television and would recur should the project go to series.
The potential series is described as an hourlong crime procedural with comedic elements, with Ryan (Last Resort) on board to pen the script and executive produce along with his MiddKid Productions partner Marney Hochman and Murphy.
Backstrom, meanwhile, hails from Bones showrunner Hanson. The network gave a pilot production commitment to the drama in July. The hourlong crime drama is based on the books by Swedish criminologist/novelist Leif G.W. Persson about overweight, offensive, irascible detective as he tries, and fails, to change his self-destructive behavior.Hanson will pen the 20th Television pilot and exec produce alongside Persson and Niclas Salomonsson. With Bones' recent ninth-season renewal at Fox, Hanson could again have two series on the air should Backstrom move forward. (Hanson's Bones spinoff The Finder was axed after one season last year.)
On the comedy side, the network has picked up Friends With Better Lives, a multicamera vehicle about a group of thirtysomething friends who each think the other has it better.
Friends producer Dana Klein (Kath & Kim) will write and executive produce the 20th Television vehicle. Kapital Entertainment's Aaron Kaplan will also exec produce.
Friends With Better Lives becomes the network's seventh comedy pilot ordered this season, joining Chuck Lorre's Mom, a pair from Raising Hope's Greg Garcia and a Jim Gaffigan semi-autobiographical comedy, among others.
On the drama side, the network has already picked up Jerry Bruckheimer's Toni Collette starrer Hostages, an NCIS: LA backdoor pilot and Kennedy-esque drama The Ordained.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit
