NBC Orders Crime Drama Pilots From Dick Wolf, Joey Falco

NBC has ordered two more crime dramas to round out its batch of pilot orders for the 2026-2027 television season.

The new pilots from Dick Wolf and Joey Falco make the total pilot tally up to six this week, with five crime dramas and one cop comedy.

Wolf’s “What the Dead Know” will star death investigator Ava Ledger as she teams up with the NYPD to solve tough cases. The series is based on the memoir by former New York City medical examiner Barbara Butcher of the same name. Beth Rinehart will write and executive produce the pilot with Wolf, Tom Thayer, Peter Jankowski and Anastasia Puglisi executive producing.

Falco’s pilot, “Puzzled,” follows a once promising college athlete Mike Brink, who develops a “unique ability to see the world in an unexpected way and helps him solve crimes with local police” follows a traumatic brain injury. The pilot will be based on the “Puzzle Master” books by Danielle Trussoni, who will serve as a producer on the project. Linden Entertainment’s Jordan Cerf will serve as a non-writing executive producer.

These are the latest in a slew of pilots NBC has ordered this week. On Wednesday, the network ordered single episodes for a reboot of “The Rockford Files,” as well as the law enforcement drama “Protection” from Joshua Safran and a crime drama from “Quantum Leap” EP Dean Georgaris. Earlier Friday, NBC announced a private investigator comedy pilot from “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” co-creators Dan Goor and Luke Del Tredici.

The six pilot orders are part of NBC’s push to bring pilot season back for 2026-27. The network stated they plan to order as many as three to four drama pilots and two to three comedy pilots for the next season.

Pilot season used to be an industry standard in television for decades, but the rise of streaming popularized the pricier straight-to-series model. While pilots are not as buzzy as series orders, they can give networks a better idea about how the cast, writers, directors and crew get along and can test which shows will be most palatable for audiences.

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