Posted: Tue., Jan. 2, 2007, 8:00pm PT

NBC pilots 3 dramas

Net greenlights 'Pit,' 'Chuck,' 'Bionic'

By Michael Schneider

Leary

Schwartz

Eick

Van Amburg

Peacock execs were still in a holiday mood on Tuesday, handing out nicely wrapped drama pilot orders to Denis Leary, David Eick and Josh Schwartz.

The trio's pilots -- "Fort Pit," "Chuck" and "Bionic Woman" -- helped kick off what will likely be a flurry of greenlights at all five broadcast nets over the next few weeks.

"Fort Pit," from Sony Pictures TV, is based on a real NYPD precinct in which "bad cops go to finish off their careers and young rookie cops with no pull go to start their careers," said Sony Pictures TV co-prexy Zack Van Amburg.

"The cop show is missing from TV right now," Van Amburg said. "We wanted to take our brand of character-based TV and apply it to the cop genre."

"Fort Pit" also keeps the team behind "Rescue Me" and "The Job" together: Leary, Jim Serpico and Peter Tolan are all exec producers on the pilot. Sony Pictures TV has an overall deal with Leary and Serpico's Apostle shingle (which is also producing "Fort Pit"), as well as a script deal with Tolan.

"Our relationship with Apostle and Peter Tolan began with 'Rescue Me,' and we wanted to extend that relationship," Van Amburg said. "And we were huge fans of 'The Job,' "

Michael Chernuchin wrote the original spec script to "Fort Pit," while Tolan took a second pass on it; Chernuchin will continue with the project as an exec producer as well, while Tolan is set to direct the pilot.

"Fort Pit" is based on the stories of real-life ex-NYPD cop Rob Cea.

Meanwhile, "Chuck," an action comedy about twentysomething spies, is written by Schwartz and Chris Fedak. Warner Bros. TV is producing.

Schwartz ("The OC") will exec produce "Chuck," while Fedak is on board as a co-exec producer. Project is said to be in the vein of the quirky late '90s feature "Grosse Pointe Blank," which starred John Cusack as an assassin-for-hire with a sense of humor.

"Chuck" was originally a put pilot with penalty; Tuesday's order officially means the project will be shot.

Then there's "Bionic Woman," a new take on the 1970s franchise from Eick ("Battlestar Galactica") and Laeta Kalogridis ("The Dive"), both of whom are writing and exec producing (Daily Variety, Oct. 10). Drama, from NBC Universal TV Studio, was given a cast-contingent order.

Eick (whose shingle is based at NBC Universal) told Daily Variety in October that he'd been combing through the U library to find another title to revive a la "Battlestar." After choosing "Bionic," he pursued Kalogridis.