Author: Lacey Rose, Lesley Goldberg

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Greg Garcia

CBS is betting big on Greg Garcia, ordering two comedy pilots from the Raising Hope showrunner as well as a comedy executive produced by Easy A‘s Will Gluck and a drama about a Kennedy-esque family from Frank Marshall.

For Garcia, the two comedies come eight months after the former My Name Is Earl Emmy winner jumped ship from 20th Television and inked a rich four-year overall deal with CBS Television Studios.

Garcia’s first project, Super Clyde, revolves around a meek, unassuming fast-food worker who decides to become a super hero. Garcia will write and executive produce.

The second comedy, being dubbed the “unauthorized Greg Garcia project,” revolves around a recently divorced man whose life is complicated when his parents decide to move in with him. Garcia will write and executive produce the multicamera effort.

PHOTOS: Midseason 2013: TV’s Newest Series

In announcing Garcia’s overall deal in May, CBS Television Studios president David Stapf sang his praise and called him one of the “elite comedy showrunners.” “He is a rare creative talent who has created successful shows in both the multi- and single-camera form across a variety of networks. It’s exciting to add a star producer of his caliber to our roster.”

Garcia’s comedy Raising Hope is in its third season on Fox. His credits include Yes, Dear and Family Guy. He’s repped by CAA and Ziffren Brittenham.

Meanwhile, Gluck will executive produce The McCarthys, a single-camera family comedy about a loud, sports-crazed Boston clan. Brian Gallivan, a writer on NBC’s short-lived Are You There, Chelsea? comedy, will pen the pilot and serve as a co-exec producer on the project from Sony Pictures Television and Gluck’s Olive Bridge banner. McCarthys is Gluck’s latest project to move forward this season. NBC previously gave a straight-to-series order for a semi-autobiographical comedy based on Michael J. Fox’s life. Gallivan is repped by CAA and manager Susie Fox.

For its part, The Ordained centers on the son of a Kennedy-esque family, who leaves the priesthood and becomes a lawyer to prevent his politician sister from being assassinated. The CBS Television Studios drama hails from Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, who will write and co-executive produce. Marshall, whose Kennedy-Marshall inked a two-year overall deal with the studio in May, and the Shuman Co.’s Larry Shuman and A.B. Fischer are on board as executive producers. Former CBS Entertainment-turned-Kennedy-Marshall exec Robert Zotnowski will serve as a co-EP on the hourlong effort.

Cullen is best known for her work as a journalist, with stints at both Time and Money magazine, among other outlets, as well as for her 2007 book Remember Me: A Lively Tour of the New American Way of Death, about her year spent crashing funerals. She’s set to debut her first novel, Pastors’ Wives, this year. Cullen is repped by UTA.

For CBS, Friday’s pilot orders join previously announced comedies including Chuck Lorre‘s Anna Faris effort Mom, Kal Penn starrer Ex-Men and the untitled Jim Gaffigan comedy from Rescue Me‘s Peter Tolan. On the drama side, the network is plotting an NCIS: L.A. spinoff and has Jerry Bruckheimer‘s Toni Collette entry Hostages in the works.

Mark Pedowitz

CW President Mark Pedowitz trotted out Sunday as Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 anthem Born in the USA pumped through the loud speakers.

It was part of a larger 1980s-themed morning, in which the younger-skewing network looked to peddle its mid-season hopeful, The Carrie Diaries, which is generating good buzz among critics far outside the CW’s demographic. As the reporter pool feasted on Pop Rocks and cans of Tab at the Television Critics Association winter press tour, Pedowitz discussed the network’s larger strategy –to broaden out its 18-34 demo—and how his series, both on the air and in development, fit into that. 

“We had a pretty good fourth quarter,” he noted, plugging the CW’s 10 percent uptick in total viewers as well as generally flat figures in both the 18-49 and 18-34 demos. As Pedowitz has done many times before, he blasted Nielsen for its inability to accurately measure the latter, a demo that doesn’t consume his shows on traditional (and thus Nielsen measured) platforms. It is among the reasons that he believes the network’s median age continues to rise — it is now at 41, which NBC entertainment chairman snidely noted earlier in the week. 

Here are some of the panel’s highlights, from the future of long-running Supernatural to the status of its Wonder Woman development project, Amazon:

Supernatural

While no decision has been made on a ninth season of the Jared Padalecki-Jensen Ackles thriller, Pedowitz said both leads are under contract for next season. “Creatively, the show is in a good place,” he told reporters of a show for which he has been a big supporter, noting that he’s pleased with its total viewership increase after moving from Fridays to Wednesdays (pair with breakout Arrow) this season. 

Battle Royale

The uber-violent adaptation of the 2000 Japanese feature is officially dead at the network. The development project, Pedowitz said, stemmed from one phone call to see if the rights to the books were available. “At this time, we’re not planning to do anything with Battle Royale,” he said of the high school-set story set in a dystopian future in which high school students are forced to fight one another to the death based on Koushun Takumi‘s novel of the same name.

Amazon (Wonder Woman)

While the network has yet to order a pilot this season, there is strong buzz surrounding the CW’s Wonder Woman prequel. “We’re waiting to see the script and we’re busy casting Diana,” the executive said from the stage. “Hopefully the script works the way we want.” Pedowtiz told THR following the panel that the origin story of Dianna Prince would be set in the present day — instead of the character’s original World War II-era origin — with the network looking at both new and established actresses for the part. Pedowitz suggested that his team would continue to explore other DC properties as well.

The Selection

Though the Hunger Games-esque drama pilot didn’t make the cut in May, the network’s redeveloped project is still in the mix this development season. “The script just came in and it’s very well done,” Pedowitz said of the entry based on the books by Kiera Cass. He has yet to make a decision, noting that he is hoping to have between seven and eight pilots in contention this year.

Reality Push

Pedowitz stopped far short of suggesting he was pleased with the state of his unscripted business, suggesting only that he intends to make one or two announcements in the coming weeks regarding new reality projects for this summer. He has already announced the addition of Hunger Games-style wilderness competition series The Hunt and dating show Perfect Score, which will join returning entries Oh Sit! and Breaking Pointe. As he has said before, the push is part of a larger plan to have year-round originals, particularly key as he looks to promote his new fall fare.

L.A. Complex

To hear Pedowitz tell it, he was disappointed that the edgy L.A.-set ensemble was not renewed for a third season by its Canadian broadcasters. He acknowledged that he had had conversations with the show’s producers about trying to find an economically viable means to keep it alive on the CW alone, but ultimately could not. He confirmed that he would continued to look at other Canadian fare.

The Carrie Diaries

The CW chief was particularly enthusiastic about mid-season effort, which he describes as an “origination story.” He’s sincerely hoping the 1984-set story will draw in somewhat older viewers of HBO’s Sex and the City as well as his more typical younger-skewing audience. While you shouldn’t anticipate any Apple or Microsoft plugs, he noted that there will still be opportunities for product integration in categories such as hair care, cosmetics and cars.