Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail has not one but two shows now set at ABC. The network scooped up Acts of Crime, which has landed a production commitment, and an Untitled CDC Project, which has received a put pilot commitment (a put pilot, for those who don’t know, is a pilot that a network agrees to air even if the show its representing doesn’t get picked up).
Deadline says Sam Esmail, creator of Mr. Robot and director of the first excellent season of Homecoming, is ready to move to broadcast TV. ABC picked up two of Esmail’s shows as part of a deal with UCP, which is “part of Universal Studio Group, whose focus has been on cable/streaming series.” UCP took Esmail’s projects to all the major broadcasters, and ABC ultimately won out.
One show is Acts of Crime, which Esmail would write and direct. It’s described as ” a unique spin on the crime procedural.” The other is an Untitled CDC Project, o which there doesn’t seem to be much info. That’s the put pilot order, which means that even if ABC doesn’t ultimately want to move forward with the show they’re still obligated to air the pilot in some form, be it as a special or a TV movie. If they refuse to air they’ll have to fork over a huge chunk of change, and no one wants to do that if they can avoid it. Esmail isn’t attached to write the CDC Project, and a search for a writer is underway.
Per Variety, UCP is also developing another series from Esmail and Palm Springs screenwriter Andy Siara called The Resort, described as “a darkly comedic series in which a married couple on the brink of divorce unwittingly becomes entangled in an unsolved mystery at a resort along the Mayan Riviera.”
I watched the first season of Mr. Robot, and then sort of just…stopped watching. Not because I didn’t like it, I just somehow let it slip through my fingers. I’ve been meaning to go back and watch the whole thing now that it’s over, assuming I ever have the time to do so. With that said, my familiarity with Esmail is mostly wrapped up in the first season of Homecoming, which he directed. I thought that was one of the best streaming shows in recent memory, and I can’t help but assume that has to do with Esmail, because season 2 – which Esmail did not direct – was a major disappointment.
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