CBS Orders “Limitless” Pilot for

CBS has ordered a pilot for a Limitless TV adaptation, making this CBS’ second pilot to jump to the small screen this fall, following Rush Hour. The pilot will be written and produced by Craig Sweeney (Elementary, The 4400) along with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Sleepy Hollow, Scorpion). Now, just because a pilot episode is ordered doesn’t mean the show will make it to a full-blown series, but the original film’s reputation and pedigree of production staff may just be enough to push this to the network’s fall lineup.

2011’s Limitless film followed Bradley Cooper’s character, Eddie Morra, as he took an experimental drug which unlocked his full mental potential. This allows him to make it big in the stock market, but put him at odds with the criminals he took the drugs from. The film was a visually stimulating, tense thriller that followed Eddie’s rise and fall under the drug NZT.

CBS’s version will follow a new character, Brian Sinclair, who uses the drug to help the FBI solve cases. While this sounds like yet another spin on the same formula used in Hannibal, Elementary, and Forever, Limitless has the opportunity to give our protagonist a dependency upon an illicit substance to help the police. This could open up some interesting story hooks, as the FBI works to find a way to stop the spread of the drug while Sinclair has to keep his addiction secret.

That said, this could be just another bland submission to network television’s parade of police procedurals about a brilliant, socially dysfunctional man who uses his brain to solve mysteries no one else can figure out. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for something unique and engaging, but judging from CBS’s current lineup, I’d say it’s not likely.

Source: Hollywood Reporter