Your Complete Guide to Pilots and Straight-to-Series orders

Year

2022-23 Hulu Pilots & Series Orders

1 Pilots

21 Series Orders

Drama

BLACK CAKE (Ordered straight to series in September 2021)

In the late 1960s, runaway bride Covey disappears into the surf off the coast of Jamaica and is feared drowned or a fugitive on the run for her husband’s murder. Fifty years later in California, Eleanor Bennett, a widow in her 60s, loses her battle with cancer, leaving her two estranged children a flash drive that holds previously untold stories of her journey from the Caribbean to America. These stories, narrated by Eleanor, shock her children and challenge everything they thought they knew about their family’s origin. Based on the upcoming book by Charmaine Wilkerson.

Studio

Team Marissa Jo Cerar (w, ep), Oprah Winfrey (ep), Aaron Kaplan (ep), Carla Gardini (ep), Zetna Fuentes (d)

Cast Mia Isaac, Adrienne Warren, Ashley Thomas, Lashay Anderson, Faith Alabi, Glynn Turman. Sonita Henry

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN MURDER AND MAYHEM (Ordered straight to series; 10 episodes)

How do you solve a murder in a post-fact world --especially when sailing the Mediterranean on an ocean liner filled with the wealthy and powerful? Everyone on board is hiding something -- but is one of them a killer? That’s what the world’s once-greatest detective, Rufus Cotesworth, and his protégée aim to discover.

Studio ABC Signature

Team Mike Weiss (w, ep, sr), Heidi Cole McAdams (w, ep, sr), Marc Webb (d, ep), Mark Martin (ep)

Cast Violett Beane, Lauren Patten, Rahul Kohli, Angela Zhou, Hugo Diego Garcia, Pardis Saremi, Mandy Patinkin, Annie Q. Riegel, Christian Svensson (recurring)

THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY (Not going forward after being ordered straight to limited series)

The story of Daniel H. Burnham, a demanding but visionary architect who races to make his mark on history with the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and Dr. H.H. Holmes, America’s first modern serial killer and the man behind the notorious “Murder Castle” built in the Fair’s shadow. Adapted from Erik Larson's novel.

Studio ABC Signature/Paramount Television Studios

Team Sam Shaw (w, ep), Martin Scorsese (ep), Rick Yorn (ep), Leonardo DiCaprio (ep), Jennifer Davisson (ep), Stacey Sher (ep), Mark Lafferty (ep)

Cast TBA

HISTORY OF A PLEASURE SEEKER

Musical drama set in 1907 Amsterdam follows a charismatic young man's explosive adventures through all the temptations of the Belle Époque. Based on the novel by Richard Mason.

Studio ABC Signature

Team Richard Mason (w, ep), Julie Anne Robinson (ep), Christopher Read (ep), Jimmy Mulville (ep), Michael Gracey (ep)

Cast Carla Woodcock, Callum Kerr, Olumide Olorunfemi, Bebe Bettencourt, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Ato Blankson-Wood

SAINT X (Ordered straight to series; eight episodes)

Told via multiple timelines and perspectives, it details how a young woman’s mysterious death during an idyllic Caribbean vacation creates a traumatic ripple effect that eventually pulls her surviving sister into a dangerous pursuit of the truth. Based on Alexis Schaitkin’s novel.

Studio ABC Signature

Team Leila Gerstein (w, ep), Dee Rees (d, ep), Alexis Schaitkin (ep)m Stephen Williams (ep)

Cast Alycia Debnam-Carey, Josh Bonzie, West Duchovny, Jayden Elijah

UNTITLED ORPHAN PROJECT (Ordered straight to limited series)

A Midwestern couple adopts what they believe is an 8-year-old girl with a rare form of dwarfism. But as they begin to raise her alongside their three biological children, they slowly start to believe she may not be who she says she is. As they question her story, they’re confronted with hard questions of their own about the lengths they’re willing to go to defend themselves, falling into a battle that’s fought in the tabloids, the courtroom, and ultimately their marriage.

Studio ABC Signature

Team Katie Robbins (w, ep), Erin Levy (sr, ep), Ellen Pompeo (ep), Laura Holstein (ep), Mike Epps (ep), Dan Spilo (ep), Niles Kirchner (ep), Andrew Stearn (ep)

Cast Ellen Pompeo

TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS (Ordered straight to series)

Told in multiple timelines, it follows a woman who reluctantly becomes Dear Sugar -- an anonymous, revered advice columnist -- when her own life is falling apart. With astonishing intimacy, nerve and candor, she excavates the beauty, struggle and humor in her own life to show us that we are not beyond rescue, that it’s our stories that will ultimately save us. Based on Cheryl Strayed's book.

Studio ABC Signature/Hello Sunshine

Team Liz Tigelaar (w, ep), Reese Witherspoon (ep), Laura Dern (ep), Lauren Neustadter (ep), Stacey Silverman (ep), Jayme Lemons (ep), Cheryl Strayer (ep), Rachel Goldenberg (d)

Cast Kathryn Hahn, Sarah Pidgeon, Tanzyn Crawford, Kathryn Hahn, Quentin Plair

UNDER THE BRIDGE (Ordered straight to limited series)

Follows the true story of a 14-year-old who went to join friends at a party in 1997 and never returned home. Seven teenage girls and a boy were accused of the savage murder. Based on the book by Rebecca Godfrey.

Studio ABC Signature

Team Samir Mehta (ep, sr), Liz Tigelaar (ep, sr), Quinn Shephard (w, ep), Stacey Silverman (ep), Geeta Patel (d, ep), Rebecca Godfrey (ep)

Cast Riley Keough, Archie Panjabi, Vritika Gupta, Javon Walton, Aiyana Goodfellow

UNTITLED SAMMY DAVIS JR. PROJECT (Ordered straight to limited series; eight episodes)

Sammy Davis, Jr. rose from childhood stardom on the vaudeville stage to become one of the most famous African American entertainers of the 1950s and '60s (and the only Black member of Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack). At the same time, he spent most of his career surrounded by controversy and ridicule -- over his affairs with white film stars, his 1960 marriage to Swedish actress May Britt, his conversion to Judaism, his closeness to the Kennedys (and later Richard Nixon) and his problems with alcohol and drugs. Based on Wil Haygood's book 'In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr.'

Studio 20th Television

Team Lee Daniels (d, ep), Kimberly Harrison (ep, sr), Thomas Westfall (ep), Marc Toberoff (ep), Pam Williams (ep), Elijah Kelley (p), Wil Haygood (p)

Cast Elijah Kelley

WASHINGTON BLACK (Ordered straight to limited series; nine episodes)

Follows the 19th century adventures of George Washington "Wash" Black – an 11-year-old boy on a Barbados sugar plantation who must flee after a shocking death threatens to upend his life. Based on the novel by Esi Edugyan.

Studio 20th Television

Team Selwyn Seyfu (w, ep), Sterling K. Brown (ep), Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jeremy Bell (ep), Lindsay Williams (ep), DJ Goldberg (ep), Anthony Hemingway (ep), Jennifer Johnson (ep), Esi Edugyan (co-p)

Cast Sterling K. Brown, Ernest Kinglsey Jr., Iola Evans, Edward Bluemel, Sharon Duncan-Brewsterm Tom Ellis

WE WERE THE LUCKY ONES (Ordered straight to limited series; eight episodes)

A Jewish family separated at the start of WWII is determined to reunite. Based on Georgia Hunter's novel.

Studio Old 320 Sycamore/20th Television

Team Erica Lipez (ep), Thomas Kail (d, ep), Jennifer Todd (ep), Georgia Hunter (co-ep), Kate Sullivan (p)

Cast Joey King, Logan Lerman, Robin Weigert, Lior Ashkenazi, Henry Lloyd Hughes, Moran Rosenblatt, Sam Woolf, Michael Aloni, Ido Samuel (recurring), Lihi Kornowski (recurring)

INTERIOR CHINATOWN (Ordered straight to series)

Willis Wu, a background actor in a procedural cop show called 'Black & White,' goes through the motions of his on-screen job, waits tables and dreams about a whole world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web in Chinatown, and in the process discovers what it feels like to be in the spotlight.

Studio

Team Charles Yu (w, ep), Taika Waititi (d, ep), Dan Lin (ep), Lindsey Liberatore (ep), Elsie Choi (ep), Jeff Skoll (ep), Miura Kite (ep)m Garrett Basch (ep)

Cast Jimmy O. Yang, Chloe Bennet, Ronny Chieng, Sullivan Jones, Lisa Gilroy, Diana Lin, Archie Kao, Tzi Ma (recurring)

THE OTHER BLACK GIRL (Ordered straight to series)

Nella is an editorial assistant who is tired of being the only Black girl at Wagner Books, so she’s excited when Hazel is hired. But as Hazel’s star begins to rise, Nella spirals out and discovers something sinister is going on at the company. Based on the novel by Zakiya Dalila Harris.

Studio Onyx Collective

Team Tara Duncan (w, ep), Rashida Jones (ep), Marty Bowen (ep), Wyck Godfrey (ep), Adam Fishbach (ep), Zakiya Dalila Harris (ep), Danielle Henderson (ep, sr)

Cast Sinclair Daniel, Ashleigh Murray, Brittany Adebumola, Hunter Parrish, Eric McCormack, Bellamy Young, Brian Baumgartner (recurring), Alyshia Ochse (recurring), Kate Owens (recurring)

Comedy

BAMMAS

A pair of young Ethiopian- and Nigerian-American best friends struggle to overcome their loser reputations in a magical realist version of Washington, D.C.

Studio ABC Signature

Team Opeyemi “Opey” Olagbaju (w, ep), Biniam Bizuneh (w, ep), Danny Chun (ep, sr), Jonathan Krisel (d, ep), Ramy Youssef (ep)

Cast Opeyemi “Opey” Olagbaju, Biniam Bizuneh, Sope Aluko

THE OTHER BLACK GIRL (Ordered straight to series)

Nella, an editorial assistant, is tired of being the only Black girl at her company, so she’s excited when Hazel is hired. But as Hazel’s star begins to rise, Nella spirals out and discovers something sinister is going on at the company. Based on the book by Zakiya Dalila Harris.

Studio Onyx Collective

Team Danielle Henderson (ep, sr), Tara Duncan (ep), Rashida Jones, Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Adam Fishbach, Zakiya Dalila Harris

REBOOT (Picked up to series)

When an early-2000s family sitcom is rebooted, its dysfunctional cast is forced back together and must deal with their unresolved issues in today’s fast-changing world.

Studio 20th Television

Team Steve Levitan (w, ep, sr), John Enbom (w, ep), Danielle Stokdyk (ep), Jeff Morton (ep)

Cast Keegan-Michael Key, Johnny Knoxville, Judy Greer, Paul Reiser, Rachel Bloom, Calum Worthy, Krista Marie Wu

TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS (Ordered straight to series)

Studio ABC Signature/Hello Sunshine

Team Liz Tigelaar (w, ep), Reese Witherspoon (ep), Laura Dern (ep), Lauren Neustadter (ep), Stacey Silverman (ep), Jayme Lemons (ep), Cheryl Strayer (ep)

Cast Kathryn Hahn

UNPRISONED (Ordered straight to series; eight episodes)

Follows a messy but perfectionist relationship therapist and single mom whose life is turned right-side-up when her dad gets out of prison and moves in with her and her teenage son. Inspired by the Tracy McMillan's life.

Studio ABC Signature

Team Kerry Washington (ep), Yvette Lee Bowser (ep, sr), Tracy McMillan (w, ep), Pilar Savone (ep), Joy Gorman Wettels (ep), Jen Braeden (ep)

Cast Kerry Washington, Delroy Lindo

UP HERE (Ordered straight to series; eight episodes)

Set in New York City in the waning days of 1999, it follows the extraordinary story of one ordinary couple, as they fall in love and discover that the single greatest obstacle to finding happiness together might just be themselves – and the treacherous world of memories, obsessions, fears, and fantasies that lives inside their heads.

Studio 20th Television/Old 320 Sycamore Productions

Team Steven Levenson (w, ep), Danielle Sanchez-Witzel (w, ep), Thomas Kail (d, ep), Kristen Anderson-Lopez (w, ep), Robert Lopez (w, ep), Jennifer Todd (ep)

Cast Mae Whitman

KOALA MAN (Ordered straight to series; animated)

Follows a middle-age family patriarch who lives a not-so-secret identity as Koala Man, whose only superpower is a burning passion to snuff out petty crime and bring order his Australian suburb of Dapto.

Studio 20th Television Animation

Team Dan Hernandez (w, ep, sr), Benji Samit (w, ep, sr), Michael Cusack (w, ep), Justin Roiland (ep), Emma Fitzsimmons (ep), Michael Cowap (ep), Scott Greenberg (ep), Joel Kuwahara (ep), Dana Tafoya Cameron (ep), Ben Jones (ep)

Cast Michael Cusack, Hugh Jackman, Sarah Snook, Demi Lardner, Jemaine Clement, Rachel House, Jarrad Wright

HOW TO DIE ALONE (Ordered straight to series)

Melissa is a fat, Black neurotic who’s never been in love. After a comical brush with death, she refuses to settle for anything less than the life she wants, catapulting her on a journey to becoming “100% that bitch” in real life by any means necessary.

Studio Onyx Collective

Team Natasha Rothwell (w, ep, sr), Vera Santamaria (ep, sr), Desiree Akhaven (ep)

Cast Natasha Rothwell

STANDING BY (Ordered straight to series; animated)

A satirical look into the lives of a group of eternally bound, irritated guardian angels and the lessons they’ll eventually learn from not only the dysfunctional humans they’re in charge of protecting but also one another.

Studio 20th TV Animation

Team Danielle Uhlarik (w, ep), Dan Levy (ep), Ally Pankiw (ep)

Cast Dan Levy, David Tennant, Natalie Palamides, Glenn Close, Poppy Liu, Samira Wiley

KING OF THE HILL (Ordered straight to series)

Revival of the 1997-2010 Fox animated series. Set in the fictional Arlen, Texas, it follows the life of Hank Hill, an enthusiastic seller of propane and propane accessories; his wife, Peggy, the local Boggle champ and substitute teacher; and their 13-year-old son, Bobby, who defies any expectation his father had for a son; and their friends Dale, Bill, Boomhauer, Minh, Nancy and Connie.

Studio 20th Television Animation

Team Mike Judge (w, ep), Greg Daniels (w, ep), Saladin Patterson (ep, sr), Michael Rotenberg (ep), Howard Klein (ep), Dustin Davis (ep)

Cast Mike Judge, Kathy Najimy, Stephen Root, Pamela Adlon, Johnny Hardwick, Lauren Tom

DELI BOYS (Picked up to series)

When their convenience store-magnate father suddenly dies, a pair of pampered Pakistani American brothers lose everything and are forced to reckon with their Baba’s secret life of crime as they attempt to take up his mantle in the underworld.

Studio Onyx Collective

Team Abdullah Saeed (w, ep), Michelle Nader (ep, sr), Jenni Konner (ep), Nora Silver (ep), Vali Chandrasekaran (ep), Nisha Ganatra (d, ep)

Cast Asif Ali, Saagar Shaikh, Poorna Jagannathan, Alfie Fuller, Brian George

FX-Created Series

THE VEIL (Ordered straight to limited series)

Explores the surprising and fraught relationship between two women who play a deadly game of truth and lies on the road from Istanbul to Paris and London. One woman has a secret, the other a mission to reveal it before thousands of lives are lost.

Studio FX Productions

Team Steven Knight (w, ep), Denise Di Novi (ep), Nina Tassler (ep), Elisabeth Moss (ep), Lindsey McManus (ep)

Cast Elisabeth Moss