CBS Picks Up 'Rush Hour' Pilot

Remember that series adapted from the Rush Hour film franchise that we reported on a few days ago? Well, turns out it's found a network. And what other network but the home of primetime procedurals?

CBS has given a pilot production commitment to the show, which is being developed by Warner Bros. TV and Bill Lawrence, the mastermind behind such comedy series as Scrubs, Cougar Town, and one of the most underrated shows in the history of animated comedy, Clone High (yes, that's probably hyperbole. No, I don't care).

Lawrence is co-writing the pilot alongside Cougar Town showrunner Blake McCormick. The story, as it did in the original 1998 film starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, will center on "a stoic Hong Kong police officer who is assigned to work a case with a cocky African-American cop."

This makes sense for CBS, given its affinity for crime procedurals. Rush Hour makes more sense for a procedural than most, as these two can tackle a different case every week. However, they'll need to come up with a reason for the Jackie Chan character to stick around after they've solved the case he was sent to Los Angeles to solve. But it could simply be an overarching investigation that runs throughout the series, similar to The Mentalist's "Red John" case. Either way, the success or failure of this series is going to depend largely on the casting. In fact, it'll depend far more on casting than just about any other series of this type, since it just won't work without two leads as charismatic as Chan and Tucker.

That said, we're totally open to casting suggestions/theories.

Via: Variety

Credit: New Line Cinema