NBC ordered an untitled drama pilot from “Quantum Leap” and “The Baker and the Beauty” executive producer Dean Georgaris, TheWrap has learned. The series is inspired by the work of renowned profiler and author Dr. Ann Burgess, known for writing books such as “A Killer by Design: Murderers, Mindhunters and My Quest to Decipher the Criminal Mind.”
The series will follow professor Georgia Ryan, a trailblazing psychologist who disrupts her field by introducing a new way of thinking: What if instead of only investigating the perpetrator, authorities investigate the victim in order to uncover crucial clues? She and her team will completely disrupt traditional criminology practices as they consult with the FBI to solve some of the most confusing and elusive cases.
Georgaris will write and executive produce the series alongside John Fox, known for his work on “Game Night” and “Uglies.” John Davis of Davis Entertainment will serve as a non-writing executive producer. Additionally, the real-life Burgess and Steven Constantine will serve as consulting producers.
This upcoming project is part of NBC’s push to bring the pilot season back to the network. NBC plans to order as many as three to four drama pilots and two to three comedy pilots for the new season. Whereas the pilot season was part of the standard TV ecosystem for decades, the rise of streaming popularized the far more expensive straight-to-series model. By and large, pilots aren’t as buzzy as ordering a full season, and ordering too many can be costly. But they can also give networks a better idea about how the cast, writers, directors and crew get along and can serve as a test of sorts to see which shows have a better chance of surviving a full season.
This is the third drama pilot NBC has ordered this week. On Wednesday, the network ordered a reboot of “The Rockford Files” as well as the law enforcement drama “Protection” from Joshua Safran.
