At look at NBC 2012 Pilots

One week from today, NBC will presenting its fall 2012 schedule to advertisers. for NBC to turn things around, they desperately need a hit, or two, from the upcoming freshmen series. Here is a look at the top contenders to make the fall schedule.

Beautiful People

Cast: David Conrad, Frances Conroy, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Tovah Feldshuh, Madisen Beaty, Cody Christian, Patrick Heusinger, Ernie Hudson.

Writer/Executive Producer: Michael McDonald (Cougar Town)

Summary: In the extremely near future, androids are so sophisticated that they closely resemble their human makers, but some of these robotic servants are becoming self-aware, evolving to the point where they are capable of human emotion and connection.

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Mockingbird Lane

Cast: Charity Wakefield, Eddie Izzard

Writer/Executive Producer: Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies, Heroes)

Summary: Based on The Munsters. After 10-year-old Eddie has a werewolf incident with his Boy Scout troupe, the Munsters move to a new town in order to start over, but their struggles—including being supernatural creatures, except for Marilyn—have a habit of following them.

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Midnight Sun

Cast: Julia Stiles, Michael Raymond-James, Emma Bell,  

Writer/Executive Producer: Lisa Zwerling (Awake, FlashForward)

Summary: Based on an Israeli series, when the residents of a remote Alaskan commune—or potentially a dangerous cult—vanish without a trace, an FBI agent travels up north to conduct an investigation, and uncovers a vast conspiracy and a looming mystery.

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Do No Harm

Cast: Steven Pasquale, Alana De La Garza, Phylicia Rashad, Michael Esper, Ruta Gedmintas, Mousa Kraish

Writer: David Schulner (The Event, Trauma)

Summary: A modern-day update of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which revolves around a neurosurgeon whose placid demeanor hides a vicious alter ego that he has managed to imprison within his psyche, but after five years, his alter ego has found a way to escape.

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Hannibal

Cast: Hugh Dancy

Writer/Executive Producer: Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies, Heroes)
Executive Producers: Jesse Alexander (Heroes, Lost), Sara Colleton (Dexter)

Summary: A prequel to Silence of the Lambs (and based on Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon), a young FBI agent, a highly empathic criminal profiler in pursuit of a deadly serial killer, begins a professional relationship with an unlikely mentor, the cannibalistic Dr. Hannibal Lecter.

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Bad Girls

Cast: Amy Smart, Jaime Pressly, Jurnee Smollett, Zoe Boyle, Rick Gonzalez, Tracee Ellis Ross, Karolina Wydra, Kym Whitley

Writer/Executive Producer: Nancy Pimenthal (Shameless, South Park)

Summary: Based on the British drama about the female inmates of a federal prison, its guards, and its highly eccentric female warden.

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County

Cast: Jason Ritter, Michael B. Jordan, Aimee Garcia, Michael Imperioli, Norbert Leo Butz, Agam Darshi, Kevin Perez, Emily Rios, Jess Weixler

Writer/Executive Producer: Jason Katims (Friday Night Lights, Parenthood)

Summary: A medical drama revolving around the doctors, nurses, and administrators of an underfunded Los Angeles County hospital.