13 episode first season to premiere this summer.
via press release
A&E GREENLIGHTS NEW ORIGINAL SCRIPTED DRAMA
‘SUGARLOAF’ (WORKING TITLE) STARRING
MATT PASSMORE, KIELE SANCHEZ AND CARLOS GÓMEZ
NEW YORK, NY – February 25, 2010 – A&E has greenlit the new original scripted series “Sugarloaf” (working title) starring Australian actor Matt Passmore (“McLeod’s Daughters,” “Underbelly”), Kiele Sanchez (“Lost,” “Samantha Who?”) and Carlos Gómez (“Shark,” “Sleeper Cell”). The series from Fox Television Studios will begin production on the 13-episode order in Miami this winter for a summer 2010 premiere.
In “Sugarloaf,” Passmore stars as Jim Longworth, an attractive, brilliant, yet hard to get along with homicide detective from Chicago who after being wrongfully accused of sleeping with his former Captain’s wife is forced into exile. Longworth relocates to Sugarloaf, a sleepy small resort town in the middle of nowhere on the Gulf Coast of Florida where the sunshine and golf are plentiful and crime is seemingly at a minimum. Yet life in Sugarloaf is not as beautiful as it may seem.
In the pilot episode, the easy life quickly falls by the wayside when a decapitated, unidentifiable woman is found in a creek, begrudgingly dragging Longworth off the golf course in pursuit of her killer. Complicating matters more is his relationship with Callie (Sanchez), a quick-witted, beautiful med student with a 12 year-old son and a husband in prison. With a Titleist sitting on the fourteenth fairway waiting for him to break eighty for the first time in his life, Longworth needles, cajoles, and harangues everyone in his path, including his golf partner and department medical examiner Carlos (Gómez), as he puzzles out the facts surrounding the mysterious killing to try and identify the victim and bring her killer to justice.
“Matt Passmore brings a fresh face and a vibrant presence to the American television landscape in this series,” said Tana Nugent Jamieson, Senior Vice President, Drama Programming, A&E Network. “Sugarloaf is an exciting character driven series that marries the gritty style of a police procedural with the blue-sky backdrop of rural Florida. It’s pure entertainment that will complement the network’s current line-up of hit Real-Life series and off-net dramas.”
“Sugarloaf” is produced by Fox Television Studios for A&E Network. The series will be executive produced by Clifton Campbell (“White Collar,” “The Profiler,” “21 Jump Street”) and Gary Randall (“Saving Grace”) for Grand Productions, Inc. The pilot was written by Clifton Campbell.
About A&E Network
A&E is “Real Life. Drama.” Now reaching more than 99 million homes, A&E is television that you can’t turn away from; where unscripted shows are dramatic and scripted dramas are authentic. A&E offers a diverse mix of high quality entertainment; ranging from the network’s original scripted series, to signature non-fiction franchises, including the Emmy-winning “Intervention,” “Dog the Bounty Hunter,” “Hoarders,” “Paranormal State” and “Criss Angel Mindfreak,” and the most successful justice shows on cable, including “The First 48” and “Manhunters.” The A&E website is located at www.aetv.com.
I hope they change the title, but other than that I’m very interested in seeing this.
Bwah, another procedural… I’ll pass.
Sugarloaf is a ski resort in Maine. They need to change the title before people keep asking “where’s the skiing?”
Oh boy another procedural. Seriously! A and E should be taking chances with fresh, original ideas so it’s recognized as a place to go for scripted drama. A procedural that sounds like it belongs on CBS or USA won’t do it. Not to mention, can somebody please take a chance on some original ideas for these new scripted pilots? It’s the same stuff over and over again.
Another procedural. Yeah, they are what’s working right now. If it was the 50′s and Westerns were hot, every new show would be a Western. I’m just glad it’s not another m———— reality show. As for the title, I thought it was going to be set in Brazil, which has a much better known Sugarloaf than some ski resort in Maine. That would have been hot. With some of the crap A&E has put on the air, this should be an improvement. They have strayed FAR from the original premise of Arts and Entertainment.
I know procedurals are what are working right now, but it’s still disappointing… they just don’t stimulate me enough. They’re too simple, don’t demand enough from the viewer and I’m just not interested in that kind of programming. I make a few exceptions with some genre formula semi-serialized shows like Fringe, Doctor Who and Supernatural, but otherwise I’m very averse to shows like that.
It’s just extra disappointing, because I looked at the new pilot slates for the big broadcasters and out of 36 drama pilots, 34 were procedurals or generally uninteresting family dramas or something! It was a horrifying experience to go through that list.
I’m getting depressed with the dearth of serialized programming on the broadcast nets. At least, cable has quite a few interesting serials going right now and more interesting serialized projects on the way! Cable is the only thing helping me keep the faith for the future of television. I’m just so sick and tired of the thriving, boring procedurals that are popping up everywhere. I hate CBS for this reason. Hate it!!! CBS should just go away, but I know it won’t, because people love their procedurals… sad!!!
You don’t cast Kiele Sanchez in anything you want to be a hit.
The title alone makes me want to see it.
Can’t wait for the new series Great Actors and Great Writers right on A& E