1 month ago
For those lamenting nan slow gait of nan TV improvement process, really astir 1 that spans 11 years? That is really agelong it took for Joe Port and Joe Wiseman‘s caller CBS vampire drama bid Eternally Yours, starring Ed Weeks and Allegra Edwards. Their aviator script, written successful 2015, sewage a array publication successful 2019, a improvement room successful 2024, a aviator bid successful 2025, and a bid pickup successful 2026.
The 2019 array publication was staged connected Andrew Reich and Ben Blacker’s Dead Pilots Society podcast, pinch Weeks arsenic nan antheral lead. Six years later, he would beryllium formed successful nan aforesaid domiciled successful nan CBS aviator that went to bid for 2026-27. The podcast helped keep Eternally Yours alive done nan various twists and turns that included an animation incarnation.
The 2015 book of Eternally Yours besides landed Port and Wiseman a occupation arsenic developers and executive producers for CBS’ adjustment of nan UK drama bid Ghosts. Next season, nan duo will service arsenic executive producers and showrunners connected Ghosts and Eternally Yours, some of which person 18-episode orders.
Here is nan communicative of Eternally Yours, nan first-ever busted book featured on Dead Pilots Society to subsequently make it to series. Its travel is intertwined pinch different vampire title, What We Do In nan Shadows.
First Sale To CBS
Eternally Yours centers connected vampire mates Charles (Weeks) and Liz (Edwards) whose once-passionate romance has devolved into a pulseless matrimony aft 500 years together. Port and Wiseman, a penning squad since gathering arsenic assistants connected nan UPN animated series Dilbert successful 1999, first came up pinch nan thought for nan show successful 2015.
At nan time, they were not alert of Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi’s movie What We Do In nan Shadows, which had been released successful nan U.S. successful February of that year, but were quickly alerted to it. “We watched it and loved it because it was incredible,” Port said.
As for really Eternally Yours came about, Port and Wiseman were processing thing other erstwhile nan speech turned to their 16 years together arsenic penning partners.
“We started talking astir penning partnerships and nan thought of a matrimony and group stuck together forever, truthful nan thought of a matrimony connected steroids, for illustration vampires who ne'er die, and what it would beryllium for illustration to beryllium genuinely together everlastingly is really we came up pinch that,” Port said.
The duo teamed with Two and a Half Men executive producers Eric and Kim Tannenbaum aft moving together connected CBS’ Odd Couple reboot. All 4 were nether wide deals astatine CBS Studios astatine nan time.
“What we loved astir about nan kernel of this idea, which is simply a mates trapped successful an endless marriage. It came from Joe and Joe, arsenic a penning team, emotion for illustration a joined couple, and we loved nan truth that it came successful pinch nan Tannenbaums, producers who not only are married, but activity together,” CBS Studios’ longtime caput of drama Kate Adler said. “It was ace relatable to conscionable astir everybody, joined aliases otherwise, but we loved that it came from specified a existent place.”
The transportation went to nan accustomed suspects astatine that time, nan 4 broadcast networks. CBS Studios’ main buyer, related CBS, was nan astir willing and already had an existing narration pinch Port, Wiseman and nan Tannenbaums, truthful nan task was group location for improvement successful September 2015.
Eternally Yours had been conceived and sold arsenic single-camera. While CBS introduced a single-camera drama bid during nan 2015-16 season, Life In Pieces, its half-hour slate astatine nan clip was dominated by multi-camera sitcoms.
When aviator pickup clip came successful early 2016, Eternally Yours sewage a pass. Its format apt was a factor; CBS yet went pinch 4 caller drama bid for nan 2016-17 season, each of them multi-cam.
CBS Studios made a Hail Mary attempt, sending nan vanished book to different networks, broadcast and cable, including smaller outlets for illustration TV Land, but location were nary takers, with Eternally Yours headed to nan dormant aviator book graveyard.
That’s wherever it was recovered by Reich.
‘Dead Pilots Society’ Table Read
Like Port and Wiseman, Reich was a web drama writer-producer and portion of a penning squad successful nan 2000s and 2010s pinch erstwhile penning partner Ted Cohen. The duo came retired of Friends, wherever they roseate to executive producers and co-showrunners and subsequently worked connected a drawstring of drama series, creating nan 2012 ABC sitcom Work It.
The aforesaid 2015-16 improvement season, during which Eternally Yours was bought, written and passed on, was sadistic to Reich and Cohen excessively — they sold 3 projects and nary of them sewage made.
“It’s conscionable emotion bad, and location was 1 particularly wherever I was conscionable really emotion like, I conscionable wish I’d gotten to perceive it publication retired loud, I conscionable wish I’d gotten to person a array read,” Reich said.
That’s really nan thought was calved for the Dead Pilots Society, which gives scripts developed by studios and networks but ne'er produced “the array sounds they deserve,” per its manifesto.
The podcast was launched successful September 2016 pinch 3 array reads, including 1 for nan rejected 2015-16 book Reich and Cohen were peculiarly fond of. It had 2 female leads for which nan duo recruited Molly Shannon and Sarah Chalke.
Since then, Reich has been reaching retired to well-known drama writers — galore of them friends of his — to get immoderate of their favourite unproduced scripts, formed them and shape array sounds that are taped for nan podcast, often astatine The Hollywood Improv. In 2019, he approached Port and Wiseman astir Eternally Yours and quickly sewage their blessing.
“It’s astonishing that they do that, because it’s really fun,” Wiseman said. “Even if it doesn’t go a aviator and a series, it’s really bully to perceive your aviator that you’ve worked truthful difficult connected travel to life.”
It was Reich who suggested Weeks for Charles. A mates of different actors had passed connected nan part, and Reich was friends pinch The Mindy Project alum who had done another Dead Pilots Society table publication for him. (This is not a paying gig; nan actors who participate successful nan array sounds unpaid their clip and do it for free.)
“We weren’t reasoning it was a British feline for immoderate logic but aft proceeding him do it, it seemed for illustration it was written for illustration that,” Port said astir their guidance to proceeding nan Charles characteristic interpreted by Englishman Weeks successful his autochthonal accent.
The remainder of nan array publication formed included Briga Heelan arsenic Liz; she was brought successful by Port and Wiseman, who had conscionable worked pinch her connected a pilot, arsenic good arsenic Matt Walsh playing 1 of nan children, Asif Ali, Vella Lovell, Tony Cavalero, Yassir Lester, Mindy Sterling, Brendan Scannell and David Fumero.
“It was a nosy night, and it was very useful to us,” Port said astir attending the array read. “In nan years to come, we started utilizing that recorded array publication arsenic a calling paper for Eternally Yours.”
The array publication made an belief connected Reich too.
“There’s pilots we’ve done that I deliberation are great, but I wholly spot why they didn’t get on, they’re conscionable excessively retired there, there’s different issues, but they’re still worthy doing a array publication of,” he said. “But this was 1 wherever it was like, oh, this was truthful good, and I tin wholly spot it arsenic a show.”
While nan Dead Pilots Society array sounds are mostly designed to springiness writers closure, Port and Wiseman would spell connected to usage theirs arsenic a valuable tool, not only sending it retired to group but besides utilizing nan feedback to punch up their book complete nan coming years.
‘Ghosts’ & Animated ‘Eternally Yours’
Taped successful precocious 2019, nan Eternally Yours episode of Dead Pilots Society was released connected March 17, 2020, conscionable a mates of days earlier nan world was unopen down by nan pandemic.
Also successful 2019, the Eternally Yours book helped Port and Wiseman onshore nan occupation of adapting nan UK bid Ghosts, different single-camera supernatural drama for CBS. They were apical of mind for some nan web and CBS Studios who sounded nan duo to co-producing entities Lionsgate TV and BBC Studios L.A. (Port and Wiseman’s penning samples astatine nan clip besides included an out-there spec they had handed to nan workplace successful May 2016, soon after Eternally Yours’ first rejection, for People vs. O.J. Simpson Episode 201, envisioning a comedic 2nd play of Ryan Murphy’s constricted bid astir nan Simpson trial.)
Ghosts was picked up to aviator successful February 2020, conscionable a fewer weeks earlier Dead Pilots Society‘s Eternally Yours episode was released, but its accumulation was delayed by nan pandemic.
Meanwhile, looking to capitalize connected nan attraction Eternally Yours received from nan array read, CBS Studios group retired to repackage nan show arsenic an animated comedy, utilizing nan podcast array publication arsenic portion of nan pitch, on pinch Port and Wiseman’s book and conception art.
“We were capable to prosecute an animator, Arthur Jones, who was great,” Wiseman said. “He did drawings of each nan characters and large pictures of nan family together.”
By nan clip nan task was fresh to beryllium taken retired successful 2021, Port and Wiseman were moving connected Ghosts, which had been picked up to bid successful March of that year. The 2 did immoderate Zoom transportation meetings for nan animated type from a trailer connected nan group of Ghosts successful Montreal.
Once again, What We Do In The Shadows came into play, this clip FX’s bid type of nan movie, which had premiered successful 2019 but collapsed retired successful a awesome measurement successful 2021 pinch its 3rd play that earned nan vampire show its first Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy nomination.
And erstwhile again, location were nary takers for nan animated Eternally Yours, pinch Hulu reportedly referencing nan truth that it already had a vampire drama with What We Do In nan Shadows, which streams connected nan platform.
Looking back, Port is relieved by nan outcome.
“The communicative of this pilot, and bid now, is that things worked retired for a reason,” he said. “Even arsenic we were pitching it arsenic nan animated thing, we were starting to do Ghosts. It hadn’t premiered yet but erstwhile that came retired and did well, I was benignant of relieved we hadn’t sold it arsenic this animated thing, because I was like, this seems for illustration specified a bully Ghosts companion. It seems for illustration there’s an appetite for this single-camera genre, drama pinch heart, for web TV now.”
‘Eternally Yours’ CBS Rebirth
While CBS Studios executives would periodically bring up Eternally Yours successful meetings pinch CBS executives, nan project’s comeback did not footwear disconnected successful earnest until astir April 2023, a fewer months aft Amy Reisenbach was named CBS Entertainment President successful November 2022. She championed nan book which, a twelvemonth later, emerged arsenic a apical drama contender astatine nan network. A improvement room was commissioned successful August of that year, followed by a aviator bid successful July 2025.
The series’ 2nd stint successful CBS improvement took longer arsenic Port and Wiseman juggled it alongside their showrunner duties connected Ghosts, now headed into its sixth season. The Dead Pilots Society podcast made a cameo during nan process pinch an unexpected January 2025 Eternally Yours section re-release successful nan aftermath of nan devastating Los Angeles wildfires.
“It was really a sentimental favourite of mine,” Reich said. “In fact, nan 1 clip we’ve done a rerun, it was January of past year. With nan fires and everything, it was conscionable excessively difficult to get an section out. And truthful nan 1 rerun we’ve ever done was Eternally Yours.”
While nan rerun did not needfully effect nan TV show’s momentum, nan podcast array publication did power nan casting of nan Eternally Yours pilot. Port and Wiseman, who kept proceeding Weeks’ sound arsenic Charles successful their heads, invited him and Heelan to audition for nan roles they had performed astatine nan array read. (The producers wanted to bring others excessively but a batch of them were unavailable, for illustration Ali, who stars connected Hulu’s Deli Boys, Lovell, who is simply a bid regular connected Fox’s Animal Control, and Cavalero, who was a bid regular connected CBS’ DMV.)
“Both Ed and Briga read, and they some did fantastic, Briga is an unthinkable actress,” Wiseman said. “Allegra Edwards, who yet sewage nan part, conscionable came successful and made it undeniable. But having Ed and Briga successful was fantastic.”
Like Weeks and Heelan, Edwards was invited to trial for Eternally Yours because of a pre-existing connection.
“She was successful 2 aliases 3 episodes of Ghosts, and was fantastic,” Wiseman said. “Everyone loved moving pinch her, she was inventive. So, yeah, she was very overmuch connected our radar.”
The formed of CBS’ Eternally Yours, which Reisenbach calls “a large hearted, clever return connected relationships, family and nan truth that eternal emotion takes work,” besides includes Helen J. Shen, Jaren Lewison, Parker Young, Rose Abdoo, Tristan Michael Brown and Shylo Molina.
Manifesting Resurrection
Earlier this month, Eternally Yours was picked up to bid by CBS 11 years aft Port and Wiseman first came up pinch nan idea, 10 years aft getting nan first rejection from nan network, 6 years aft nan book was featured connected nan Dead Pilots Society podcast and 3 years aft nan task re-entered development.
“For us, Eternally Yours was a task that ne'er went away, it was simply hibernating,” Adler said. “We were ever profoundly successful emotion pinch it, I conjecture you could opportunity our emotion was eternal. We ever committedness creators we won’t springiness up connected their projects, and we stay hopeful that a awesome task will yet find a home. Obviously, nary 1 knew this 1 would return 11 years!”
Port and Wiseman, who person had their adjacent stock of rejected pilots, besides thought location was thing typical astir Eternally Yours.
“There’s a batch of dormant pilots, but this 1 felt for illustration it kept trying to travel back; each fewer years, nan workplace would inquire america astir it and say, what astir this?,” Wiseman said. “Most shows don’t go, and astir dormant pilots don’t go, truthful I can’t opportunity I knew this was going to hap but it did consciousness for illustration group were supporting this task for a agelong time.”
Befitting nan supernatural quality of Ghosts and Eternally Yours, Port sewage a premonition erstwhile nan erstwhile sewage disconnected nan ground.
“I person a image successful my location agency of nan Ghosts poster,” he said. “I moved it complete to nan left, and I near an quiet abstraction for it for nan past fewer years because I was envisioning putting up an Eternally Yours poster adjacent to it.”
