CBS Pilot Orders: Medical Drama ‘Bunker Hill’, Comedy ‘Superior Donuts’

CBS has given pilot orders to Bunker Hill, a medical drama written/executive produced by Parenthood‘s Jason Katims, and Superior Donuts, a multi-camera comedy written/executive produced by The Odd Couple showrunner Bob Daily and Community alums Neil Goldman & Garrett Donovan.

Bunker Hill comes from Universal Television and Katims’ studio-based True Jack Prods. It will be a co-production with CBS TV Studios. The project follows a young Silicon Valley tech titan who enlists a veteran surgeon with a controversial past in starting a hospital with a cutting-edge, “new school” approach to medicine. Katims executive produces with True Jack’s Michelle Lee.

True Jack originated the idea for Bunker Hill last season when it brought in writer Sarah Watson to pen a script. The project was set up at CBS with a put pilot commitment but did not make it to pilot. With Watson’s knowledge, CBS and True Jack decided to take a brand new take on the original idea this season with Katims writing a new script.

Last year, CBS ordered a slew of medical drama scripts. Two, Code Black and LFE, went to pilot, and one, Code Black, went to series. At CBS, Bunker Hill joins legal drama pilot Doubt and Nancy Drew reboot Drew.

Superior Donuts is based on the play by Tracy Letts. It follows the relationship between the owner of a donut shop, his new young employee and their patrons in a gentrifying neighborhood of Chicago. Letts’ play was first staged by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago in 2008 and premiered on Broadway in 2009.

Daily, who serves as showrunner, executive produces Superior Donuts alongside Goldman, Donovan, Mark Teitelbaum and John Montgomery. CBS TV Studios, where Daily is under overall deal, is the studio.

So far, all three CBS pilots for next season, as well as the Kevin James series, are multi-camera or hybrid.