Even as the television landscape splinters more and more as streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon continue to buck decades-long trends, there’s still nothing quite like pilot season. Every spring, after reviewing hundreds of pitches and scripts from aspiring (or established) TV writers, executives at the various networks choose a number of them they think have potential. They cast actors and then produce a pilot episode to see which of the story concepts might actually work on the air.
It’s from that pool of pilots that TV networks end up choosing what series will grace their fall schedules. Considering the constant talk about the need for more diverse media representation, it’s encouraging to see that many of our favorite actors (looking at you John Leguizamo, Eva Longoria, Cristela Alonzo, and Edward James Olmos) have projects lined up this pilot season. Even if, unfortunately, there aren’t too many Latinos behind the camera on those very same shows.
Still, there’s plenty to get excited about. Which is why we’ve combed through Deadline’s handy Primetime Pilot Panic list to find ten projects starring Latinos that we hope get green-lit and get picked up to full series. From Marvel properties and FX spinoffs that already aced their casting to a show that only someone like Aubrey Plaza could dream up, these shows are the kind of varied entertainment we want to see on our screens.
1
Marvel's Runaways, Hulu
Who’s in it: Rhenzy Feliz, Lyrica Okano, Virginia Gardner, Ariela Barer (One Day at Time‘s Goth Carmen), Gregg Sulkin, Allegra Acosta
What’s it about: Six diverse teenagers who can barely stand each other must unite against a common foe – their parents.
2
Nightmare Time, TBS
Who’s in it: Aubrey Plaza
What’s it about: Set in Aubrey Plaza’s Nightmare Clinic, where celebrity guests check in to overcome recurring nightmares. Every episode features two insane nightmares, inspired by the horrors of modern society, and uses tropes and touchstones of the horror genre to guide audiences through its absurd universe. Thanks to advanced technology, we’re able to peer into their restless minds and witness their nightmares in real time. But what is “real” anyway? Maybe it’s all just a nightmare in Aubrey’s mind — one endless nightmare that eventually could destroy her and the entire world.
3
Las Reinas, ABC
Who’s in it: Daniella Alonso, Matthew Davis, John Corbett, Amanda Warren
What’s it about: Detective Sonya De La Reina is forced to confront her past when a case compels her to reconnect with her estranged family – the most powerful criminal outfit in Miami. Thrust back into the world she thought she had left behind, Sonya must walk the murky line between the law and her family, and question her true destiny as a De La Reina.
4
The Gospel of Kevin, ABC
Who’s in it: Jason Ritter, Cristela Alonzo, India de Beaufort, Dustin Ybarra, Chloe East, J. August Richards
What’s it about: Kevin is a down-on-his-luck man who is tasked by God with a mission to save the world.
5
Salamander, ABC
Who’s in it: Larenz Tate, Allison Miller, John Leguizamo, Neil Sandilands, Elaine Tan
What’s it about: A brilliant but misanthropic engineer recruits a skeptical Homeland Security agent to help him track a mysterious bank robber whose theft of 66 specific safety deposit boxes, belonging to the elite and powerful, sets in motion a series of blackmails that might be linked to a greater conspiracy.
6
Distefano, CBS
Who’s in it: Chris Distefano, Annie Potts, Diane Guerrero
What’s it about: Izzy and Chris are twentysomethings raising their newborn daughter and merging their loud families – one Puerto Rican, one Italian. Inspired by the comedy of Chris Distefano.
7
Dynasty, The CW
Who’s in it: Nathalie Kelley, Elizabeth Gillies, Sam Adegoke, Robert Christopher Riley, Grant Show, Alan Dale, Rafael de la Fuente
What’s it about: A modernized reboot of the 1980s primetime soap that follows two of America’s wealthiest families, the Carringtons and the Colbys, as they feud for control over their fortune and their children. The series will be told primarily through the perspectives of two women at odds: Fallon Carrington, daughter of billionaire Blake Carrington, and her soon-to-be stepmother, Cristal, a Hispanic woman marrying into this WASP family and America’s most powerful class. Features the 1% in all its glitz and gloss, while exposing the dark underbelly: a corrupt world built on backroom deals.
8
She's Gotta Have It, Netflix
Who’s in it: Anthony Ramos (of Hamilton fame)
What’s it about: Nola Darling is a Brooklyn-based artist in her late 20s struggling to define herself and divide her time amongst her friends, her job and her three lovers. Contemporary update of Spike Lee’s 1986 debut film.
9
Type-A, Fox
Who’s in it: Eva Longoria, Ken Marino, Kyle Bornheimer, Steve Harris, Andy Richter
What’s it about: A group of consultants is hand-picked to do the dirty work most professionals can’t handle: layoffs, downsizing, generally delivering horrible news. To everyone else, they’re the enemy – to one another, they’re family.
10
Mayans MC, FX
Who’s in it: Sarah Bolger, Emilio Rivera, JD Pardo, Antonio Jaramillo, Edward James Olmos, John Ortiz, Clayton Cardenas, Richard Cabral
What’s it about: Sons of Anarchy spinoff focuses on the struggles of EZ Reyes, a prospect in the Mayan MC charter on the California/Mexico border.