ABC Passes on Kevin Costner Produced Pilot “National Parks Investigation” And Others

Three out of five upcoming drama pilots have been passed on by ABC, but two are still being considered for the midseason, according to Deadline.

What’s Happening:

  • ABC has passed on three drama pilots, Triage, Dark Horse, and National Parks Investigation.
  • Reportedly, Dark Horse and the Kevin Costner-produced National Parks Investigation will be shopped by their studios. Triage may also be shopped.
  • National Parks Investigation was greenlighted earlier this year, but after an initial cut ABC needed more time to decide on the series.
  • Triage was a drama that took place in three different timelines, and didn’t perform well. After some retooling, it was better received by the network, and was still in contention until now.
  • Based on an Australian format, Dark Horse was greenlit but not filmed. Universal Television is reportedly shopping the script for the pilot, which has an Indigenous woman as the central character.
  • Two dramas are still under consideration for midseason, The multi-generational Latinx family drama, Promised Land and the fairy tale themed Epic from the creators of Once Upon a Time.  
  • Epic is a romantic anthology series that reinvents fairytales for a new audience. It is set in the fairytale universe of Disney and will center on a whole new set of new heroes, villains, princes, princesses and all manner of magical beings.
  • Promised Land, a drama from Matt Lopez, and previously known as American Heritage, is an epic, generation-spanning drama about two Latinx families vying for wealth and power in California’s Sonoma Valley. Lopez is attached to write, as well as executive produce alongside Adam Kolbrenner of Lit Entertainment Group, with ABC Signature serving as the studio behind the production. The series expands Lopez’s long standing relationship with Disney where he has been considered as a go-to writer with many previous productions under his belt.