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Pilot Pirate: “Georgetown” and the untitled Whitney Cummings Project

Welcome back to the Pilot Pirate, where we preview the latest scripts looking for a home on the 2011-12 primetime TV schedule. Each week, we read and preview some of the projects interest to the AfterEllen community, breaking down scripts to help you, the optimistic TV fan anxiously awaiting the next Modern Family or Glee, keep up with the onslaught of pilots in contention.

A reminder: These are early stage scripts that are likely to be revised and, in some cases, drastically change before filming, and only some of which will make it to the airwaves.

This week: Georgetown and the untitled Whitney Cummings Project.

Pilot: Georgtown (drama)

Writers: Will Fetters (Remember Me)

Network: ABC

Logline: A sexy soap revolving around the young people behind the power brokers of Washington, D.C.

Cast: James Wolk (Lone Star), Katie Cassidy (Melrose Place reboot), Daisy Betts (Persons Unknown), Condola Rashad (The Good Wife)

Director: Mark Piznarski (Gossip Girl, 90210)

Executive producers: Josh Schwartz (The O.C., Gossip Girl Chuck), Stephanie Savage (Gossip Girl, The O.C.), Len Goldstein (Heart of Dixie)

The characters:

Andrew Pierce, 29, handsome and charming speechwriter (Wolk)

Bryce Johnson, 28, inquisitive reporter trying to work her way off the “style” beat

Samantha “Sam” Whitman, 29, pretty, grounded and moralistic center of group of young friends; an aide to the White House’s senior adviser

Michael Kline, White House senior adviser

Deanna Kline, Michael’s wife

Peter Brooks, 28, young-looking bookish type; a researcher in the White House library

Harper Hawley, 24, cute emo girl and Andrew’s assistant

Nikki Argo, 28, former model; now an up and coming member of the White House’s communications team

Vincent Feig, White House chief of staff

Gale Sullivan, communication’s director and Nikki’s boss

Len Foster, the top political journalist in Washington and Bryce’s boss

Montgomery “Monty” Knox, a classmate of Andrew, Sam, Peter, Nikki and Bryce’s and an opportunistic venture capitalist

Stacy Kristol, a cunning White House analyst out for Peter’s job

Caroline Wallace, a Republican senator who’s the bane of existence for the Democrat-controlled White House staff

I’m not a big fan of primetime soaps like Desperate Housewives. With Housewives, I find the women trite and mostly devoid of characteristics that make them truly compelling characters. Considering Georgetown‘s premise, I went in expecting Housewives with a sprinkling of The West Wing. What I got, however, was the politics of The West Wing with a dash of the soapy Melrose Place.

Georgetown is among the most promising pilots this season. It’s a smart workplace drama about a group of young former college friends who now work in Washington and navigate both sides of the aisle – as well as their interconnected personal lives and how their personal politics play into their professional ones.

Everything here revolves around James Wolk‘s Andrew, the youngest speechwriter for the president. His ex-girlfriend, Daisy Betts‘ Sam, is Washington royalty and the daughter of a heavyweight politico (it’s unclear just who her father is in the pilot). The pair are roommates with Peter, a bumbling nerdy bookish type, and Nikki, a former model turned Washington communications staffer.

Also in the mix is Bryce Johnson (Condola Rashad), a gay 28-year-old female reporter who has friends – Nikki, Andrew, Sam and Peter – in high places and who’s working diligently to be taken off the style beat at Washington’s most influential political blog. Among the costs of Bryce’s hard work: her girlfriend. In the script, Bryce bows to pressure from her boss and abandons her girlfriend on her birthday. While it’s unclear if Bryce is out at work or among her friends, it’s refreshing to see lesbian characters who are neither coming out or pregnant. Either way, add a pair of lesbians to primetime should Georgetown get picked up to series. (Bryce’s unnamed girlfriend has yet to be cast.)

What also makes the ABC drama pilot so strong is its throng of characters. Each of our young hotshots have older, more senior officials to whom they report and interact with. The first lady attempts to set Nikki up on a blind date; Sam’s boss, the White House senior IMD, knows his wife is having an affair and is keeping their separation a secret since the midterm election is approaching and he doesn’t want his personal life to impact the president’s focus.

Overall, Georgetown is a compelling read with compelling characters you want to root both for and against. Besides, I’ll get on board just about anything with a lesbian reporter.

Pilot Pirate outlook: Your party affiliation doesn’t matter – just don’t miss the party.

Pilot: The untitled Whitney Cummings project (comedy)

Writer: Whitney Cummings

Network: NBC

Logline: Whitney Cummings stars as half of a young couple who tackle the ups and downs of a committed relationship in today’s complicated world.

Cast: Stand-up comic Whitney Cummings, stand-up comic Chris D’Elia, Beverly D’Angelo (Entourage), Zoe Lister-Jones (The Good Wife)

The characters:

Whitney, 28, smart, goofy, free-thinking photographer (Cummings)

Alex Green, 30, grounded, handsome without trying; Whitney’s boyfriend (D’Elia)

Lily, 26, traditional, sweet, upbeat

Neal, 32, sensitive and cool meterosexual; Lily’s boyfriend

Roxanne, 33, tired, blunt, divorcee

Mark, 33, blue-collar cop, the stereotypical single guy who says things like “I’m getting some lady hole tonight.”

Patti, Whitney’s mother

NBC has two of the best comedy pilots this season in Are You There Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea and its untitled Whitney Cummings project. While the Handler script will likely bring the busy stand-up coming to the series in a recurring role (as the series’ big sister), comedian Whitney Cummings has written herself as the lead of this pilot.

Vodka, trading in the happily single Chelsea character for Whitney and her boyfriend of five years, Alex (D’Elia). While Alex is the traditional gentleman and would marry Whitney in a heartbeat, Whitney is intensely opposed to marriage after seeing her boozy mother go 0-for-3 at the alter. The humor is easy without being obvious and the dialogue is sharp. Nothing is forced here and Whitney’s friends are well-crafted and fun. Roxanne is divorced and swears she won’t get married again but still believes in the institution. Mark, meanwhile, is a complete and total womanizer who says things like “I’m getting some lady hole tonight” as the group heads to a wedding. But while Mark may be a typical character, the way everyone responds to him is a nice change from the norm.

There may not be any gay characters in the pilot, but Whitney is a strong female character worth rooting for.

Pilot Pirate outlook: Cummings is sure to be one of TV’s fresh faces when this pilot moves forward to series.

Check back next Thursday for the Pilot Pirate preview of Hail Mary, starring Minnie Driver and executive produced by The L Word mastermind Ilene Chaiken.

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