Pitch,’ ‘Exorcist,’ ‘Lethal Weapon,’ ‘Making History,’ ‘Mick,’ ‘APB’ Ordered to Series at Fox

Fox is cementing its 2016-17 schedule.

The network has handed out series orders to dramas Pitch, The Exorcist, Lethal Weapon and APB and comedies Making History and The Mick.

All six projects had been among the network’s early frontrunners. All, save for Lethal Weapon, hail from studio sibling 20th Century Fox Television as the network looks to have an ownership stake in as much of its new series as possible.

Pitch marks the first Dan Fogelman project to go to series since the prolific producer’s move from ABC Studios to 20th TV. The drama centers on a young female pitcher (Kylie Bunbury, Under the Dome) who defies the odds when she becomes the first woman to play in the major leagues. In a first, Major League Baseball is partnering with Fox to produce the series, offering unparalleled access to its brand, logos, stadiums and more. The show is filming in San Diego, and the San Diego Padres will be the team featured on the series, which co-stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Ali Larter and Dan Lauria.

The Exorcist, a modern reinvention inspired by William Blatty’s 1971 book, is a propulsive, serialized psychological thriller following two very different men tackling one family’s case of horrifying demonic possession and confronting the face of true evil. Geena Davis stars in the drama from Jeremy Slater. The show could give the network a good genre series to pair with Sleepy Hollow, should the bubble series come back for a likely fourth season.

APB centers on a tech billionaire (Weeds’ Justin Kirk) who purchases a troubled police precinct in the wake of a loved one’s murder. But can this eccentric and enigmatic figure’s cutting-edge approach fix the broken ways of these blue-blooded veterans? Inspired by the New York Times story “Who Runs the Streets of New Orleans?” Natalie Martinez co-stars in the drama, which added Matt Nix (Burn Notice) as showrunner and hails from Sleepy Hollow grad Len Wiseman. Insiders say APB may likely be held for a midseason bow.

Lethal Weapon is based on the feature film of the same name. When Texas cop and former Navy SEAL Martin Riggs (Rectify’s Clayne Crawford) suffers the loss of his wife and baby, he moves to Los Angeles to start anew. There, he gets partnered with LAPD detective Roger Murtaugh (Damon Wayans Sr.), who, having recently suffered a “minor” heart attack, must avoid any stress in his life. Forever’s Matt Miller oversees the WBTV drama, which co-stars Jordana Brewster and counts Dan Lin and McG as executive producers.

Making History centers on three unlikely friends who find an even less likely way to travel through time, irreversibly complicating their personal lives in 2016 as the great moments of the past collide with today’s popular culture — with hilarious and quite disastrous results. Adam Pally and Leighton Meester star in what has been the network’s comedy frontrunner all season long. The project, which co-stars Yassir Lester, hails from duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who also serve as executive producers on the network’s sophomore single-camera series The Last Man on Earth, as well as the upcoming hybrid live-action/animation comedy Son of Zorn, which Fox ordered to series back in November. Julius “Goldie” Sharpe and Seth Cohen also serve as exec producers.

The Mick is toplined by It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Kaitlin Olson and hails from It’s Always Sunny duo John Chernin and Dave Chernin. The single-camera comedy revolves around a hard-living, foul-mouthed woman who moves to affluent Greenwich, Conn., to raise the spoiled kids of her wealthy sister and brother-in-law, who have fled the country to avoid a federal indictment. She quickly learns what everyone else already knows: Other people’s children are awful. Sofia Black-D’Elia, Thomas Barbusca, Jack Stanton, Carla Jimenez and Susan Park also star in the series. Joining the Chernin brothers as executive producers are Nick Frenkel, Oly Obst and Randall Einhorn, who also directed the pilot. Olson will continue to star on It’s Always Sunny for FXX, in addition to her role on The Mick.

The six pickups join the previously ordered 24 reboot and Lee Daniels’ Star, among other straight-to-series orders as Fox looks to fill an American Idol-sized hole on its schedule next season.