Fox Orders ‘Prodigal Son’ Pilot From Chris Fedak, Sam Sklaver & Berlanti Prods.

Fox has given a pilot order to one-hour police drama Prodigal Son, from Deception creator Chris Fedak and Sam Sklaver, Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros TV.

This marks the first pilot from an outside studio for Fox this season, with at least one more, Deputy, from eOne, pending. Prodigal Son joins three other Fox pilots — comedies Richard Lovely and Geniuses and drama Filthy Rich — along with two straight-to-series animated comedies — Bless the Hearts and Duncanville — all from the network’s longtime corporate sibling 20th Century Fox TV, which is headed to Disney as part of the $71.3 billion asset acquisition. (Duncanville is co-produced by Universal TV.)

As part of decreasing the net’s dependence on 20th TV, Fox bass last summer revealed a plan to have half of the scripted development for next season come from outside suppliers vs. 10% last season. The network has ownership in all projects.

Written by Fedak and Sklaver, Prodigal Son is described as a fresh take on a crime franchise with a provocative and outrageous lead character and darkly comedic tone. It centers on Malcolm Bright, who has a gift. He knows how killers think, how their minds work. Why? His father was one of the worst — a notorious serial killer called “The Surgeon.” That’s why Bright is the best criminal psychologist around; murder is the family business. He will use his twisted genius to help the NYPD solve crimes and stop killers, all while dealing with a manipulative mother, annoyingly normal sister, a homicidal father still looking to bond with his prodigal son, and his own constantly evolving neuroses.

Fedak and Sklaver executive produce with Berlanti Prods’ Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter. Warner Bros TV produces with studio-based Berlanti Prods.

Chuck alum Fedak created drama Deception, also from Berlanti Prods, which aired for one season on ABC. He also was an executive producer on Legends of Tomorrow and Forever.

Sklaver was a consulting producer on Deception and American Housewife and co-executive producer on Blunt Talk.