Author: Lacey Rose, Lesley Goldberg

The Cable Show

Jennifer Lopez

NBC is making a big bet on Jennifer Lopez.

The network has made a straight-to-series 13 episode order for the American Idol judge’s star vehicle. The drama, Shades of Blue, will center on a on Harlee McCord (Lopez), a single mother and dirty cop recruited to work undercover for the FBI’s anti-corruption task force. Part of a close-knit unit known for its conviction record, Harlee has become compromised by her colleagues — all of whom also pitch in to help raise her daughter — and finds herself faced with the moral dilemma of working against her cop brothers in order to redeem herself. 

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Adi Hasak (3 Days to Kill) is attached as the project’s writer and executive producer, alongside Lopez’s Idol colleague Ryan Seacrest and his Ryan Seacrest Productions exec Nina Wass. Joining them as fellow EPs are Lopez, her Nuyorican exec Elaine Goldsmith Thomas and manager Benny Medina. Production is slated to begin in 2015 for broadcast during the 2015-16 season. Universal Television, Nuyorican Productions, RSP, EGTV and H’s Films will produce.

“Whether its producing, acting, singing or any of her other many entrepreneurial activities, Jennifer is an extraordinary talent and life force, and we’re delighted to be in business with her and Adi Hasak on this sophisticated show,” said NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke in a statement. “We’re especially excited that Jennifer is returning to her acting roots from such great movies as Out of Sight and we know that she will create this complicated character in a vivid way that will breathe new life into the cop show genre. Ryan Seacrest is part of the NBCU family and doing his first scripted drama series with us makes perfect sense.”

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Added Seacrest: “Nina Wass loved the script from the moment she read it. When Elaine, Adi and Benny approached us about working on it, we jumped at the chance to collaborate with such amazing partners. The script is so powerful and ambitious, we can’t wait to see Jennifer take on this remarkable role. Bob Greenblatt and Jen Salke’s enthusiasm and support has been incredible, and we look forward to working with everyone at NBC.”

Blue is the latest straight-to-series pickup this season as the networks are using larger commitments to help land projects in an increasingly competitive space. Already, NBC has four straight-to-series orders, including Emerald City, Mr. Robinson, Working the Engels and an untitled Ellie Kemper comedy from Tina Fey. 

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Elsewhere, CBS has committed to putting Vince Gilligan/David Shore‘s Battle Creek on the schedule, as has Fox with Will Forte comedy Last Man on Earth as well as Weird Loners and ancient Egyptian drama Hieroglyph, among others.

Blue marks RSP’s first drama project sold. Better known in the unscripted arena for series including E!’s Keeping Up with the Kardashians and Bravo’s Shahs of Sunset, the company has scripted comedy Mixology heading to ABC later this month. For Nuyorican’s part, Blue joins a portfolio that counts ABC Family’s The Fosters and TruTV’s South Beach Tow within it.

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George Mastras

Breaking Bad‘s George Mastras is heading to HBO.

The producer behind AMC’s dearly departed Vince Gilligan drama has inked a two-year overall deal with the premium cable network, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Under the two-year pact, which is exclusive in television, Mastras will develop new projects for HBO. He’s also in talks to join the cabler’s upcoming Mick Jagger, Martin Scorsese and Terence Winter 1970s rock ‘n’ roll drama. A formal deal for the latter project has not yet been secured.

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Mastras recently wrapped production on Bad, which ended its run with a best drama Emmy and a series-high 10.3 million viewers. As is often the case coming off of a show as well received as the Bryan Cranston vehicle, the series’ six writers plus creator and showrunner Gilligan are in high demand. It is for that reason that Gilligan and Peter Gould will struggle to be able to populate the writers room for the show’s prequel, tentatively titled Better Call Saul, with fellow Bad writers as they had hoped.

The rock ‘n’ roll drama, previously known as History of Music, hails from Boardwalk Empire‘s Winter and Scorsese, the latter of whom will direct and executive produce. Winter will pen the script and exec produce. The project is based on an idea from Rolling Stones frontman Jagger — who conceived the entry as a film first at Disney and then at Paramount. He will exec produce with his Jagged Films partner Victoria Pearman.

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Feature writer-directors Brian Koppelman and David Levien were tapped to serve as showrunners on the rock drama, but exited the project this week. Mastras would take over as showrunner on the Bobby Cannavale starrer, which is set to film the pilot in New York early next year.

In this week’s THR cover story, Gilligan opened up about  the challenges of moving on, acknowledging that there is a pressure — both internal and external — to replicate the success he has just had on Bad. “It scares me,” he told THR, accepting that he will never be able to fly under the radar again, just as he won’t be able to do anything that isn’t compared to Bad. He added: “The odds of winning the lottery two weeks in a row are pretty infinitesimal.”

Mastras, who is the younger brother of Mad Men writer-producer Maria Jacquemetton, is repped by CAA and Dan Halsted at Manage-Ment. He worked on all five seasons of Breaking Bad and was nominated for Emmys in 2010 and 2012. He’s a two-time WGA Award winner for his work on the series. He began writing for television in 2006 on the ABC procedural The Evidence. He next will pen feature 90 Church for Universal Pictures.