LA Screenings 2011: NBC picks up more dramas

US network NBC has picked up three new drama pilots – period drama The Playboy Club, fantasy detective series Grimm and Inception-esque cop drama Awake (formerly known as R.E.M).

This comes a day after the network picked up series including comedies Whitney and Up All Night and Steven Spielberg’s musical Smash as well as the remake of detective series Prime Suspect.

This further solidifies the trend of the US broadcast networks picking up pilots early, ahead of their Upfronts events next week, a move that has helped the studios’ distribution arms and international acquisition executives.

The Playboy Club, which was written by Chad Hodge and produced by 20th Century Fox Television, centres around the famous club in Chicago in 1963.

Grimm, which was created by David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf and produced by Universal Media Studios, follows a police detective who discovers fairy tale creatures living among us.

Awake, meanwhile, was written by Lonestar creator Kyle Killen and produced by 20th Century Television, stars Jason Isaacs as a police detective who finds himself living in two different realities following a car accident.

NBC’s Upfront event will be held on Monday 16 May.