TNT has given a series order to Monday Mornings (formerly Chelsea General), a medical drama pilot from Emmy-winning writer-producer David E. Kelley and practicing neurosurgeon/CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, on whose book the project is based. The cable network has picked up 10 episodes for a premiere in summer 2013. The series, starring Ving Rhames and Alfred Molina, will air on TNT and Turner networks around the world. Monday Mornings was one of three pilots in contention for a series pickup heading into TNT’s upfront presentation next week. TNT yesterday passed on one, Western Tin Star, while the other, search-and-rescue procedural Scent Of The Missing, remains in contention. Word is TNT plans to shoot a few more procedural pilots and will make a decision after seeing all of them. The network applied similar strategy to Tin Star, which was shot last fall but held back to screen with the other two pilots. Meanwhile, Frank Darabont’s period pilot L.A. Noir is still filming. It will be evaluated on its own as a potential Sunday genre show for the network, which airs sci-fi drama Falling Skies on the night, and not with Scent and the group of procedural pilots TNT plans to order.
Monday Mornings, produced by TNT Originals and David E. Kelley Prods, stars Rhames, Molina, Jamie Bamber, Jennifer Finnigan, Bill Irwin, Keong Sim, Sarayu Rao, and Emily Swallow. “Monday Mornings is a superb drama brought to life with passion by a gifted ensemble cast and some of the best creative minds working in television today,” said TNT’s head of programming Michael Wright. “Set at the fictional Chelsea General Hospital in Portland, Ore., Monday Mornings follows the lives of doctors as they push the limits of their abilities and confront their personal and professional failings. The title refers to the hospital’s weekly morbidity and mortality conference, when doctors gather with their peers for a confidential review of complications and errors in patient care. Kelley and Gupta serve as executive producers on the series. Kelley penned the pilot episode, which was directed and executive produced by Bill D’Elia.
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