CBS has ordered 13 episodes of “Extant,” a sci-fi thriller from Steven Spielberg‘s Amblin Television, the studio announced on Wednesday. CBS and Amblin co-owen and will co-produce the series, based on a script by Mickey Fisher, and plans to air it next summer.
Fisher’s pilot script chronicles a female astronaut struggling to adapt to life on earth after a year in space. She is pregnant with a baby that is part human and part alien, and has a human-like robot for a son. The family intrigue deepens in subsequent episodes and impacts world events.
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“‘Extant’ is a very original concept with layers of humanity, mystery and surprise that reveal itself throughout the script,” Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment, said in a statement. Tassler compared the project to "Under the Dome," one of the summer's biggest hits — and another CBS/Amblin co-production.
“Our partnership with Amblin for ‘Under the Dome’ showed that viewers respond to high-quality event programming in the summer," Tassler said.
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In “Extant,” CBS has secured a project that both film and television studios were eager to acquire. Warner Bros. was initially interested in turning “Extant” into a feature film and several different TV studios were bidding for it after Fisher’s representatives at WME, manager Brooklyn Weaver and attorney Jeff Frankel moved the project to Amblin.
Spielberg, Greg Walker, Fisher, Weaver, Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank will executive produce the series, which CBS will distribute both domestically and overseas. Adam Rodin will co-produce.