‘Emergence’: NBC Boss Addresses Decision To Pass On Drama Pilot & Its Pickup By ABC

In one of the biggest twists this upfront season, NBC’s genre thriller drama pilot Emergence, starring Allison Tolman, was picked up to series by rival network ABC.

During the NBC upfronts press call Sunday, the network’s executives were asked about the decision not to go forward with the project, produced by ABC Studios, and what they thought of ABC’s move to pick it up to series.

“We had an abundance of choices,” NBC Entertainment co-chairman Paul Telegdy said. “Emergence is a great show, one that we couldn’t find a home for on NBC. We are delighted it has found a future on ABC.”

This is the second consecutive year an NBC drama pilot passed on by the network has landed a series pickup elsewhere. Last year, it was The Bad Boys offshoot L.A.’s Finest, which is launching as the first Spectrum original series this week.

Emergence, from Kevin (Probably) Saves the World creators/executive producers Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters, director Paul McGuigan and ABC Studios, was a favorite at the Disney-owned studio. It landed for development at NBC instead of ABC last fall during the previous regime at the Disney-owned network. I hear the new top ABC executive team loved the pilot and when word came that NBC was not picking it up to series, they swooped in.

Written by Fazekas and Butters, Emergence is a character-driven genre thriller that centers around a police chief, played by Allison Tolman, who takes in a young child that she finds near the site of a mysterious accident who has no memory of what has happened. The investigation draws her into a conspiracy larger than she ever imagined, and the child’s identity is at the center of it all.

Related Story

NBC Fall 2019-20 Schedule: Not A Lot Of Change For Top-Rated Network, 'Will & Grace' & 'Manifest' Held For Midseason