Fox Passes On Pilots ‘Studio City’ & ’48 Hours ‘Til Monday’

There was hope for Fox drama pilot Studio City and comedy 48 Hours ‘Til Monday when the network 10 days ago opted not to pick either up to series but postponed a final decision until after the upfronts. I hear a decision has now been made, and it’s a pass on both projects. But while closing the book on those two pilots, I hear Fox is looking at another pilot that did not go forward at its original network: NBC drama Warrior. Like with any busted pilot, a pickup is considered a very long shot but there is a glimmer of hope.

Studio City, 48 Hours and Warrior all were early standouts, garnering solid buzz out of the gate, but ultimately didn’t make the cut. Studio City, starring Eric McCormack, in particular, was going strong almost until the end when it was upset by late riser Lucifer. The drugs-and-music-themed drama, created by Krista Vernoff based on her real-life experiences, is expected to be shopped to other networks.

Studio City and 48 Hours, a family comedy starring Rob Riggle and Sarah Chalke, both hailed from outside studios, Warner Bros. TV and Universal TV, respectively. Like ABC and NBC, Fox owns or co-owns the vast majority of its new series — out of seven new scripted shows, one comes from outside studio, WBTV’s Lucifer, four a fully owned and two are co-productions, comedy Grandfathered with ABC Studios and drama Minority Report with Paramount TV.

Fox has an existing relationship with Universal TV, which produces its comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine (it also produced The Mindy Project for the network). Uni TV also is behind the fantasy/martial arts drama Warrior, which would fit into Fox’s push into genre programming with freshman Gotham and newly picked-up Minority Report, Lucifer and The Frankenstein Code. However, sources stress that for now Fox is just taking a look and there is nothing real at the moment.