USA Network Picks Up 'Common Law'

USA Network has given a cast-contingent pilot order to Common Law, a comedic buddy cop drama from producer Jon Turteltaub. The project, written by Cormac & Marianne Wibberley, centers on cops Wes Mitchell and Travis Marks, partners at LAPD. The problem is Wes, a methodical former lawyer with a passion for cars, gardening and his ex-wife, and Travis, a maverick ladies’ man who served time in juvie, can’t stand each other. To revive their flagging professional relationship, their Captain sends them to couples therapy.

CBS TV Studios and Turteltaub’s Junction Entertainment are producing with Cormac & Marianne Wibberley and Turteltaub executive producing. Dan Shotz and Karim Zreik  will serve as co-executive producers.

“If you’re going to do a cop show, it better be something special – and we believe this one is,” USA’s president of original programming Jeff Wachtel said.  “It’s funny, it’s fresh, and the writing is just fantastic.”

Common Law joins two other pilots recently greenlighted by USA, Necessary Roughness and A Legal Mind. The buddy cop show genre is back this year with the order for Common Law, Fox’s new series The Good Guys and, to some extent (it’s about P.I. buddies), FX’s Terriers.