Hot off of scoring some major wins for its original series Transparent during the 67th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards Sunday night, Amazon has announced its lineup for its fall pilot season. Amazon's new pilot season includes six new shows and features comedies, dramas and historical series.
The three new half-hour pilots premiering on Amazon include Highston, One Mississippi and Z. The three hour-long pilots will be Edge, Good Girls Revolt and Patriot.
Some of the most acclaimed talents working in movies and TV today are behind Amazon's new slate of pilots. Executive producers of these new pilots include Louis C.K. (One Mississippi), Diablo Cody (One Mississippi), Sacha Baron Cohen (Highston) and Shane Black (Edge), who also co-developed, directed and co-wrote the teleplay for the Edge pilot.
Amazon's new pilots will also feature onscreen turns from well-known stars, including Shaquille O'Neal (Highston), David Strathairn (Z), Christina Ricci (Z), Chris Parnell (Highston) and Anna Camp (Good Girls Revolt).
Amazon's fall pilot season is scheduled to debut later this year in the U.S., UK, Germany and Austria. When the pilots become available on Amazon Video, users are encouraged to watch them and provide feedback on which pilots they want to see turned into full-fledged series on Amazon. All of the pilots will be available to watch through Amazon Video online or through the Amazon Video app for TVs, connected devices or mobile devices.
Here's what you can expect from each of the six pilots debuting on Amazon Video later this year.
Edge
Edge is a western based on the George C. Gilman book series of the same name. It's set in 1868 and features a Union officer-turned-cowboy named Josiah "Edge" Hedges (Pacific Rim and Captain Phillips' Max Martini) who is looking for vengeance in the post-Civil War American West. Edge also stars True Blood's Ryan Kwanten as Merritt Harknett and The Astronaut Wives Club and Chuck star Yvonne Strahovski as Beth. Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, Iron Man 3) developed, wrote the teleplay and executive produced the pilot with Fred Dekker (Tales from the Crypt, Star Trek: Enterprise). Edge was also directed by Black and executive produced by Barry Josephson (Bones, Turn: Washington's Spies) and David Greenblatt (Battle Los Angeles).
Good Girls Revolt
Inspired by journalist Lynn Povich's account of the 1970 landmark sexual discrimination case at Newsweek in her book The Good Girls Revolt, this pilot is set in 1969 and chronicles a group of young female researchers at News of the Week as they fight for equal pay. The pilot stars Genevieve Angelson (Backstrom) as Patti, Anna Camp (Pitch Perfect) as Jane, Erin Darke (We Need to Talk About Kevin) as Cindy, Chris Diamantopoulos (Silicon Valley) as Finn, Hunter Parrish (Weeds) as Doug, Jim Belushi (Show Me a Hero) as Wick McFadden, Joy Bryant (Parenthood) as Eleanor Holmes Norton and Grace Gummer as Nora Ephron. Good Girls Revolt is a co-production with TriStar Television, and the pilot was written and created by Dana Calvo (Made in Jersey), directed by Liza Johnson (Return) and executive produced by Calvo, Lynda Obst (Interstellar), Darlene Hunt (The Big C), Don Kurt (Justified) and Jeff Okin (Dark Skies, Stanley Park).
Highston
This pilot follows a 19-year-old named Highston Liggetts (Lewis Pullman), who has many celebrity friends in his social circle. There's just one problem: He's the only one who can see them. His parents, Jean (24's Mary Lynn Rajskub) and Wilbur (Saturday Night Live's Chris Parnell), make him see a psychiatrist, but he has the support of his Uncle Billy (American Dad!'s Curtis Armstrong). Guest stars in this pilot include Shaquille O’Neal and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea. The Highston pilot was written by Bob Nelson (Nebraska), directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine) and executive produced by Sacha Baron Cohen (The Dictator), Todd Hoffman (Love Stinks), Nelson and Todd Schulman (Bruno).
One Mississippi
This is a dark comedy that is loosely inspired by comedian Tig Notaro's life. The pilot follows Tig as she returns to her hometown of Bay Saint Lucille, Miss. after her mother passes away and also after recovering from her own personal health crisis. Along the way, Tig has to reconnect with her older brother Remy (Transparent's Noah Harpster), her emotionally unavailable stepfather Bill (The Devil Wears Prada's John Rothman) and her ex-girlfriend Brooke (Gone Girl's Casey Wilson). One Mississippi is a co-production with FX Productions. The pilot was written and executive produced by Notaro and Diablo Cody (Juno), executive produced by Louis C.K. (Louie), Blair Breard (Louie) and Dave Becky (Everybody Hates Chris). Nicole Holofcener (Enough Said) directed and also executive produced the pilot.
Patriot
This pilot is a political thriller that follows intelligence officer John Tavner (Wonderland's Michael Dorman) as he has to prevent Iran from going nuclear while working undercover as a mid-level employee at a Midwestern industrial piping firm. PTSD episodes, dealing with the federal government and trying to remain undercover will make his mission even more challenging. The Patriot pilot also stars Terry O'Quinn (Lost) as John's father who is also the State Department Director of Intelligence, Kathleen Munroe (Call Me Fitz) as John's wife Alice, Aliette Opheim (Sandor slash Ida) as Agathe, a homicide detective suspicious of John, and Kurtwood Smith (That '70s Show) as John's new boss at the piping firm Mr. Claret. This pilot was written and directed by Steven Conrad (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The Weather Man) and executive produced by Conrad, Gil Bellows (Temple Grandin), Glen Ficarra (Crazy Stupid Love, Focus), Charlie Gogolak (Focus) and John Requa (Crazy Stupid Love, Focus).
Z
Z is based on the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald (Monster's Christina Ricci) and begins before Zelda becomes the wife of author F. Scott Fitzgerald (Allegiance's Gavin Stenhouse). The show follows the couple through their tumultuous love affair and marriage from the decadence of the Jazz Age through the alcoholism, adultery, mental illness and regrets that plague the later years of their relationship. The pilot for Z was written by Dawn Prestwich (The Killing) and Nicole Yorkin (The Killing). It was directed by Tim Blake Nelson (Anesthesia) and executive produced by Pamela Koffler (Still Alice) and Christine Vachon (One Hour Photo) of Killer Films, as well as Ricci. Guest stars for the show include David Strathairn (Good Night and Good Luck) as Judge Anthony Dickerson Sayre, Kristine Nielsen (Savages) as Minnie Sayre, Maya Kazan (The Knick) as Livye Hart, Sarah Schenkkan (30 Rock) as Eleanor Browder, Jamie Anne Allman (The Killing) as Tootsie Sayre and Holly Curran (Alpha House) as Tilde Sayre.
Via: Amazon
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