In a day where ABC cancelled four shows and renewed eight others, the network opted to hand out two series orders – one to crime drama Big Sky and the other to family comedy Call Your Mother.
Based on the C.J. Box novel The Highway, with David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies) developing for television, Big Sky (fka The Big Sky) follows private investigator Cassie Dewell (Kylie Bunbury) as she teams up with ex-cop Jenny Hoyt (Katheryn Winnick) to look into the disappearance of two sisters, said to be kidnapped by a trucker on a remote Montana highway. Once the pair discover that other women have been abducted, as well, they find themselves in a race against time to stop the killer.
In addition to Bunbury and Winnick, Big Sky stars Brian Geraghty (Chicago PD), Ryan Phillippe (Shooter), and Natalie Alyn Lind (The Gifted).
From Kari Lizer (The New Adventures of Old Christine), Call Your Mother (fka My Village) follows Jean (Kyra Sedgwick), an empty-nester mom who takes the sudden quiet around her house harder than expected. Left wondering how she ended up alone, she decides to pack up her life and reinsert herself into the lives of her adult children, who live thousands of miles away. Initially annoyed at the lack of space given to them by their mother, her children soon realize that they needed her more than they thought.
In addition to Sedgwick, Call Your Mother stars Rachel Sennott (Shiva Baby), Joey Bragg (Father of the Year), Emma Caymares (Fosse/Verdon), and Austin Crute (Daybreak).
Big Sky had a series commitment from the get-go, but it was formally contingent on ABC seeing a pilot. The series already had a writer’s room working on additional scripts, while Call Your Mother was a traditional pilot order where ABC ordered two backup scripts, something more common in a pilot season where filming pilots was impossible.
