ABC Passes On “Public Defenders” Pilot
ABC has decided to pass on a single-camera comedy pilot called “Public Defenders”, which was created by 20th Television.
“Public Defenders” is about four inexperienced public defenders, who are up to their earholes in student loan debt and work tirelessly to keep their clients out of jail. Along the way, they have to rely on one another to navigate their first defendants, the absurd court system and the copy machine that always jams.
The pilot episode of “Public Defenders” was directed by Randall Einhorn, and Eddie Quintana wrote it. The pilot starred Anthony Anderson (Black-ish) who played the role of Marshall, who is the public defender’s boss. Liz Astrof is the showrunner for the series. All four of them will be executive producing the show along with McG, Mary Viola and Corey Marsh for Wonderland Sound and Vision and Artists First’s E. Brian Dobbins.
ABC ordered the pilot back in January, but with the writer’s strike now underway, development on many shows has been paused and Disney going through a major cost-cutting program, which is resulting in less general entertainment content being created for its linear and streaming platforms.
20th Television is trying to shop the pilot to other platforms/channels, so it’s still possible this show does get created. Recently, 20th Television has previously done this with “True Lies”, where Paramount picked up the show for CBS/Paramount+ for the United States, and it was released as a Star Original on Disney+ around the world. So if “Public Defenders” does get picked up by another network, it could still be distributed by Disney internationally, but with most studios also cutting back on how much original content is being made, it may be unlikely.