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Fox Orders New Drama From ‘The Blacklist’ Boss and Jamie Foxx
Fox just announced a straight-to-series order of a new cop drama from Jamie Foxx and The Blacklist showrunner John Eisendrath. The new police procedural is called Alert, and it will air in the 2022-2023 TV season, but it's not clear yet whether it will premiere in the fall. It is about a police [...]

Fox Orders New Drama From ‘The Blacklist’ Boss and Jamie Foxx

Fox just announced a straight-to-series order of a new cop drama from Jamie Foxx and The Blacklist showrunner John Eisendrath. The new police procedural is called Alert, and it will air in the 2022-2023 TV season, but it’s not clear yet whether it will premiere in the fall. It is about a police officer in Los Angeles, California with a particular focus on missing persons cases.

Alert centers around the L.A.P.D.’s Los Angeles Missing Persons Unit — L.A.M.P.U. It begins with officer Nikki Parker joining the unit when her own son goes missing. Parker learns how the L.A.M.P.U. tries to track down missing people and applies all the tricks of the trade to her son’s case. After six years, Parker gets a confusing break in the case from her ex-husband, Devon Zoellner. The show will combine a week-to-week procedural with a serialized drama to keep the intrigue at a maximum.

From the sound of it, Foxx will not appear on screen in the show, but will be an executive producer. Eisendrath will serve as the showrunner from day to day while Datari Turner will be another EP. The show will juggle Parker’s search for her son with a missing person case in each week’s episode. Along the way, viewers will learn about missing persons cases and how they are investigated.

The break in the case comes in the form of a “proof-of-life photo” of Parker’s son, letting her know that he is still out there somewhere. However, Fox’s announcement indicates that this clue won’t be very straightforward. It may raise more questions than it will answer.

Eisendrath has an overall deal at Sony Pictures Television according to a report by Deadline. This show is a co-production between Sony and Fox Entertainment. Alert already has a pilot script, a format and a back-up script commitment plus penalty — an indication that Fox is serious about this project. The network has been pulling out all the stops in developing new dramas recently.

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The missing persons angle is actually somewhat similar to another new series coming to NBC. The rival network has ordered a pilot for the series Found from writer Nkechi Okoro Carrol. Found stars Shameless star Shanola Hampton as Gabi Mosley, a public relations specialist who works on solving missing persons cases through aggressive publicity campaigns. Viewers will gradually discover that Mosley was herself once designated a “missing person,” making the crusade highly personal for her.

The 2022-2023 TV season is shaping up to be a big one for lovers of crime dramas and procedurals. Stay tuned for more news on these brand-new shows as it becomes available.