ABC Passes on Kevin Costner’s ‘National Parks Investigation’ & 2 More Pilots

ABC has ended the hopes of three more drama pilots from its 2021 pilot season slate, passing on Triage, Dark Horse and the Kevin Costner-executive produced National Parks Investigation.

The three shows were part of the network’s five outstanding drama pilots, including Epic and Promised Land, both of which remain in midseason contention. Epic is a fairytale-themed drama executive produced by Once Upon a Time creators Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, while Promised Land is described as a generation-spanning Latinx family drama.

National Parks Investigation, which was co-written by Costner, was given the green light earlier this year, but ABC needed more time to decide after an initial cut of the pilot. The story centered on a small group of elite NPS agents solving crimes while protecting America’s national parks. It was set to star Billy Campbell, Angel Parker, Guillermo Diaz, Tiffany Dupont, Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut, Blu Hunt, and Gerardo Celasco.

Triage, a holdover from the 2020 pilot season, was retooled and kept in contention at ABC until now. It was a medical drama set over three different timelines starring Michael Ealy, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Gabriel Sloyer, Parisa Fitz-Henley, Andrew Richardson, Bex Taylor-Klaus, and Kathleen Robertson. Criminal Minds producer Erica Messer was attached as showrunner.

Based on an Australian format, the pilot for Dark Horse was greenlit by ABC but never filmed. The series was expected to follow a passionate Indigenous woman on her unconventional journey into politics. William Jehu Garroutte (Stumptown) wrote the pilot while Jessica Goldberg (Away) was on board as showrunner and executive producer.

According to Deadline, Dark Horse and National Parks Investigation will be shopped by their lead studios, Universal Television and A+E Studios, respectively. Triage, from 20th Century TV, may also be shopped.

While ABC has picked up several comedy pilots for the 2021-2022 season, the network has only commissioned one drama so far, Queens, about a 1990s all-female hip hop group that reunites for a chance to recapture their past fame.