Amazon lines up Louis C.K., Shaq, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Diablo Cody for fall pilots

BY TODD LONGWELL

In the wake of its five Emmy wins, Amazon is announcing the lineup for its fall pilot season featuring contributions from such talent as Louis C.K., Diablo Cody (Juno), Sasha Baron Cohen, and Shaquille O’Neal. They will debut later this year exclusively on Amazon Video in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, and Austria.

As part of Amazon’s pilot program, the shows will be available to subscribers and non-subscribers alike. Amazon will weigh the number of views and direct viewer feedback in determining which shows to greenlight to series. To date, only one show, the yet-to-be-titled project from director Woody Allen, has been picked up to series by Amazon without submitting to the pilot process.

The pilots include: 

Edge

Based on George G. Gilman’s best-selling book series of the same name, it stars Max Martini (Pacific Rim, Captain Phillips) as Josiah “Edge” Hedges, a Union officer turned cowboy, who prowls the post-Civil War American West doling out his own peculiar (and savage) brand of justice. It also stars Ryan Kwanten (True Blood) and Yvonne Strahovski (The Astronaut Wives Club, Chuck) as Beth. Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, Iron Man 3) and Fred Dekker (Tales from the Crypt, Star Trek: Enterprise) wrote the script, as well as executive produced with Barry Josephson (Bones, Turn: Washington Spies), and David Greenblatt (Battle Los Angeles). Black directed.

Good Girls Revolt

Inspired by the landmark sexual discrimination cases chronicled in Lynn Povich’s book The Good Girls Revolt, it follows a group of young female researchers at News of the Week in 1969 who ask to be treated fairly and become unlikely revolutionaries, as their simple request upends marriages, careers, sex lives, love lives and friendships. It stars Genevieve Angelson (Backstrom) Anna Camp (Pitch Perfect), Erin Darke (We Need to Talk About Kevin), Chris Diamantopoulos (Silicon Valley), Hunter Parrish (Weeds), Jim Belushi (According to Jim) Joy Bryant (Parenthood), and Grace Gummer as the late author, screenwriter, and director Nora Ephron. A co-production with TriStar Television, Good Girls Revolt 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). The pilot is inspired by the landmark sexual discrimination cases chronicled in Lynn Povich’s book, The Good Girls Revolt.

Highston

Written by Oscar-nominee Bob Nelson (Nebraska), the pilot tells the story of Highston Liggetts (played by newcomer Lewis Pullman) a 19-year-old with a wide circle of celebrity friends that only he can see. His parents, played by Mary Lynn Rajskub (24) and Chris Parnell (Saturday Night Live) force him to get psychiatric help, but his Uncle Billy (Curtis Armstrong) thinks he’s just fine. The pilot guest stars Shaquille O’Neal and Red Hot Chilis Pepper bassist Flea. It was 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

A dark comedy loosely inspired by the life of comedian Tig Notaro’s (Boyish Girl Interrupted) life, the pilot follows Tig as she deals with the complex reentry into her childhood hometown of Bay Saint Lucille, Mississippi, where she must deal with the unexpected death of her mother, as well as her own declining health. It also stars Noah Harpster (Transparent), John Rothman (The Devil Wears Prada) and Casey Wilson (Gone Girl). A co-production with FX Productions, it was written and executive produced by Notaro and Diablo Cody (Juno), executive produced by Louis C.K., Blair Breard (Louie), Dave Becky (Everybody Hates Chris) and Nicole Holofcener (Enough Said), the latter of whom also directed.

Read the full story at the Video Ink.

Remix by Max Fleishman