CW Picks Up Medical Drama Pilot From Writer Jennie Snyder Urman (original) (raw)

Is Zoe Hart getting a companion or a replacement? With Hart Of Dixie in the midst of its freshman season, the CW is eying another drama series about a newly minted female doctor for next fall. The network has given a pilot order to First Cut, written by 90210 alumna Jennie Snyder Urman. The project, from CBS TV Studios, centers on a brand new doctor who, glad to leave her nerdy past behind for a fresh start in the adult professional world, discovers that, sadly and comically, life at the hospital where she works is no different than high school. Urman is executive producing the pilot with Dan Jinks. While both Hart Of Dixie and First Cu_t have a newbie female doctor at their center, First Cut is considered the CW’s stab at a more hospital-centered show in the vein of Grey’s Anatomy or Scrubs (both about young doctors, btw), while in Hart Of Dixie, the medical element takes back seat to the relationships among a group of young people in Bluebell, Alabama. While not a breakout hit of the size o_f The Vampire Diaries, Hart Of Dixie has done well enough to earn a full-season order, boasts a popular star in Rachel Bilson and has ranked as the CW’s No.1 show on Hulu. That makes a second-season renewal for Hart of Dixie likely, at least for now, and First Cut a potential companion for it in the mold of Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice. This is the CW’s fifth pilot order so far this season, joining Arrow, based on the DC Comics book Green Arrow; an adaptation of Candace Bushnell’s novel The Carrie Diaries, a prequel to _Sex And The Cit_y; and a reboot of the 1980s series Beauty And The Beast; and mystery drama Cult.