It's cop rock time on ABC.
The Disney-owned network is teaming with Grammy- and Oscar-winning composer Stephen Schwartz (Wicked), Five for Fighting's John Ondrasik and The Fosters creators Bradley Bredeweg and Peter Paige for a musical cop drama called Harmony.
The project, which has received a sizable production commitment from the network, revolves around the residents of Harmony, New York, who have the most unique dialect in the world: They sing their feelings and dance their emotions. When a brutal murder rocks the thriving tourist destination, a repressed detective must return to the musical town he left as a teen to solve the crime and confront the ghosts that have haunted him ever since he fled.
Bredeweg and Paige will write the script for the ABC Studios and Mandeville Films and Television drama alongside Jacob Chase. Bredeweg and Paige will also executive produce alongside Mandeville's David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman, Laurie Zaks and Jonathon Komack-Martin. Chase will co-executive produce; Jon Chu will also exec produce and direct the potential pilot. Three-time Grammy winner and six-time Tony nominee Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, Wicked) and John Ondrasik (aka Five for Fighting) will compose music and also exec produce the drama. Schwartz and Ondrasik previously worked together on a pair of songs for Five for Fighting, including "Above the Timberline." The latter is best known for songs including "Superman" and "100 Years."
Harmony arrives 27 years after ABC attempted to launch Cop Rock, a musical drama co-created by Steven Bochco. The series ranks as one of the worst shows of all time and was canceled after one season. Sources stress Harmony is not about a group of singing cops.
A version of this article appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.
