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The CW Orders Roswell Reboot, 5 Other Projects to Pilot

Though the network had formally expressed interest in the project in October 2017, the CW has officially given a pilot order for a reboot of popular sci-fi series Roswell. Still intended to be based on the "Roswell High" book series from Melinda Metz, Carina Adly MacKenzie will pen the series; and executive produce with Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank (Amblin Television), Lawrence Bender and Kevin Kelly Brown (an executive producer on the original series).

As the series overview reveals, this Roswell will directly address the issue of immigration on two levels: the metaphorical sci-fi theme of "aliens-as-immigrants" that was present in the original series; and the very real issues surrounding the immigration debate and the impact it has on the children of undocumented immigrants:

"After reluctantly returning to her tourist-trap hometown of Roswell, New Mexico, the daughter of undocumented immigrants discovers a shocking truth about her teenage crush who is now a police officer: he's an alien who has kept his unearthly abilities hidden his entire life. She protects his secret as the two reconnect and begin to investigate his origins, but when a violent attack and long-standing government cover-up point to a greater alien presence on Earth, the politics of fear and hatred threaten to expose him and destroy their deepening romance."

Roswell's first two seasons originally aired on The WB (which would eventually be rebranded The CW) from 1999-2001, with its third and final season airing on UPN. The series would serve as a boost to the acting careers of cast members Shiri Appleby (UnREAL), Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy) and Colin Hanks (Fargo). The  Roswell "universe" was also expanded upon between 2001-2003 through a series of novels published by Pocket Books and Simon Spotlight Entertainment.

But the CW didn't stop there, announcing an additional five pilot orders:

In the Dark: The Ben Stiller project tells the story of a flawed and irreverent blind woman who is the only "witness" to the murder of her drug-dealing friend. After the police dismiss her story, she sets out with her dog, Pretzel, to find the killer while also managing her colorful dating life and the job she hates at Breaking Blind — the guide dog school owned by her overprotective parents. Corinne Kingsbury will write and executive produce with Stiller, Jackie Cohn, and Nicky Weinstock.

Spencer: Greg Berlanti's pilot tells the story of a rising high school football player from South Central L.A. who is recruited to play for Beverly Hills High, and depicts the wins, losses, and struggles of two families from vastly different worlds — Compton and Beverly Hills — as they collide. The story is inspired by the life of pro football player Spencer Paysinger.

Skinny Dip: Based on the novel by Carl Hiaasen, the pilot follows a woman who — after her husband tries to kill her on what she thought was a romantic cruise to celebrate their second wedding anniversary — teams with a jaded ex-cop to exact her own twisted brand of revenge on her cheating spouse, and winds up uncovering a wider conspiracy in the process. Russel Friend and Garrett Lerner will write and executive producer with Peter Traugott and Rachel Kaplan.

Playing Dead: This dysfunctional family dramedy focuses on a mortician and his son whose lives are turned upside down when the woman who abandoned them 15 years ago returns and asks them to fake her death. Rina Mimouni and Josh Reims will write and executive produce with Tariq Jalil and Lucas Carter.

The End of the World As We Know It: When a prison spaceship carrying the universe's most deadly aliens crashes in Southern California, two young women with bigger dreams than working at a kids' pizza place in The Valley are recruited by a space cop to hunt down the escaped criminals, who have camouflaged themselves as eccentric Angelenos. Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker will write and executive producer with Rob Thomas, Danielle Stokdyk, Dan Etheridge; Leslie Morgenstein, and Gina Girolamo. The project is based on the Iva-Marie Palmer book of the same name.

Entertainment Weekly

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