Author: Lesley Goldberg , Philiana Ng

The CW

“The Vampire Diaries'” Joseph Morgan in the “Originals” episode

Hours after NBC renewed five dramas, The CW has ordered its first new series for 2013-14 — The Vampire Diaries spinoff The Originals — and renewed freshman Beauty and the Beast and veteran Hart of Dixie for additional seasons.

The order for The Originals comes the day after the Vampire Diaries‘ backdoor pilot aired to 2.2 million total viewers and a 0.9 rating in adults 18-49, down a tenth of a point week-over-week and off 31 percent from the vampire drama’s season average.

The spinoff revolves around the Original family in New Orleans. In the episode, Klaus returns to the supernatural melting pot that is the French Quarter of New Orleans, a town he helped build centuries ago, and is reunited with his diabolical former protégé Marcel (Charles Michael Davis). Elijah, intent on helping his self-destructive brother find redemption, must side with Marcel’s enemies in order to keep Klaus in line. Joseph Morgan, Phoebe Tonkin, Daniel Gillies, Claire Holt, Danielle Campbell and Leah Pipes star in the drama from Vampire Diaries showrunner Julie Plec.

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Originals is one of two pilots Plec has in contention this season at the CW. She’s also teaming with Arrow EP Greg Berlanti to adapt The Tomorrow People, based on the ’70s U.K. series created by Roger Price. A decision Tomorrow People, starring Robbie Amell (brother to Arrow’s Stephen Amell) is expected to be announced in the coming weeks as the network mulls their current pilot batch.

In a Hollywood Reporter poll, 66 percent of the more than 7,000 responders voted that the CW should pick up The Originals, checking off that they’d watch the series as much as The Vampire Diaries.

“As soon as we saw last night’s episode of The Vampire Diaries, we knew we wanted more of The Originals — Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson have done a fantastic job with The Vampire Diaries, which is as fast-paced and well-written as ever, and Julie has created an equally compelling world for The Originals,” CW president Mark Pedowitz said in a statement making the announcement Friday. “We’re also very excited to bring back Beauty and the Beast and Hart of Dixie for next season — both series continue to be creatively strong and compelling, and their fans are incredibly passionate. I’m very happy to have all three series on the schedule for next season.”

Created by Leila Gerstein, Hart of Dixie has been a decent ratings performer for The CW as a kick-off to Tuesday nights in its current second season. Although the Southern-set medical drama, led by Rachel Bilson, has remained under the radar for its two-season run, the network has several holes to fill for the 2013-14 season following numerous cancellations (Cult, Emily Owens M.D.), with veteran shows also coming to an end (90210, Gossip Girl). More importantly, Hart of Dixie continues to be one of the network’s best performing series on Hulu, which is becoming an increasingly valuable platform as the CW courts its key 18-34 demographic. Its online performance also helped propel the series to a second season order last year.

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Beauty and the Beast, meanwhile, has carved out a loyal audience in the plum post-Vampire Diaries slot on Thursdays at 9 p.m. The Kristin Kreuk and Jay Ryan starrer earned the People’s Choice Award for favorite new drama. The series sees a 45 percent ratings bump among women 18-34 when counting seven days of DVR growth. 

The series join the CW’s 2013-14 lineup that includes the previously renewed America’s Next Top Model, Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries and Arrow. CW series still awaiting word on their fate include freshman Sex and the City prequel The Carrie Diaries, which ended its midseason run with a 0.7 average among adults 18-49 and solid buzz, and Friday entry Nikita, which has averaged a .5 in the adults 18-49 metric this season. A decision is expected on these and the rest of the network’s pilots in the coming weeks as the CW preps its upfront presentation to Madison Avenue in May.

The order for The Originals marks the broadcast networks’ first series order of the season. 

Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com, Philiana.Ng@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit, @InsideTheTube

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Omar Epps

Omar Epps has found his follow-up to House.

The actor, who played Dr. Eric Foreman on the long-running Fox drama starring Hugh Laurie, has been tapped to topline the ABC drama pilot The Returned, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

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From Criminal Minds‘ Aaron Zelman and based on the Jason Mott novel, The Returned asks what happens when the people you have buried and mourned suddenly appear on your doorstep as if not a day’s gone by.

Epps will star as Martin Bellamy, an agent with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He’s a former cop who joined ICE when he got involved with a case involving the trafficking of children. He’s empathetic with a soft spot for kids — despite not having a family of his own — and is fascinated by Jacob (newcomer Landon Gimenez), a mysterious boy who popped up from nowhere in the middle of rural China.

Additionally, That ’70s Show alum Kurtwood Smith has joined the cast as Harold, Jacob’s father, who is rattled by the mysterious reappearance of his son — who appears radically unchanged despite being dead for 32 years.

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Criminal Minds’ Zelman will pen the pilot and executive produce alongside JoAnn Alfano, Jon Liebman, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner; Charles McDougall will direct the ABC Studios/Brillstein Entertainment and Plan B production.

Covert Affairs alum Devin Kelley co-stars as a doctor who teams with Martin after the reappearance of her late mother. Matt Craven, Frances Fisher, Sam Hazeldine, Samaire Armstrong, Nicholas Gonzalez and Mark Hildreth also co-star in the pilot, which now has completed casting ahead of its Atlanta shoot. 

Epps (Love & Basketball, ER) is repped by WME, Anonymous Content and Hansen Jacobson; Smith (24) is repped by Progressive, Pop Art and Imperium 7; and Gimenez is with RSM Talent.  

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Elias Koteas

The Killing is shoring up its new cast.

Elias Koteas has closed a deal to join AMC’s revival of the mystery drama as a series regular, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Koteas, who most recently starred in ABC’s Combat Hospital, will play Sarah Linden’s (Mireille Enos) ex-partner Ed Skinner. Well-regarded and well-respected, prosecutors relax when they see his name on the docket because they can trust his work.

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AMC, which had canceled the drama last summer, made a rare reversal, deciding to bring back the heavily serialized series for another go earlier this month.

Showrunner Veena Sud and her writing team have been back in the writers room prepping season three for weeks. Stars Enos and Joel Kinnaman will both return, though many castmembers, including Billy Campbell and Michelle Forbes, will not be back.

Based on the Danish series Forbrydelsen, the first two seasons of The Killing had revolved around Seattle police detectives Sarah Linden (Enos) and Stephen Holder (Kinnaman) as they investigated the murder of teenager Rosie Larsen and all those connected to it.

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The 12-episode third season will introduce a completely new case and will be set one year after the Larsen case was closed with Linden no longer a detective. She is drawn back when Holder searches for a runaway girl that leads him to a string of murders that connects to a previous investigation led by Linden.

Production will begin Feb. 25 in Vancouver.

Repped by UTA and Kipperman Management, Koteas has appeared in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Thin Red Line and Shutter Island, has a slew of upcoming films including Devil’s Knot, Now You See Me, Last Day on Mars and Jake Squared.

E-mail: Philiana.Ng@thr.com
Twitter: @insidethetube