ABC Gives Pickup Order to Resurrection (Formerly The Returned) and Releases Cast Photo; Passes on Gothica

In advance of next week’s Upfront presentations by the major networks, we close out this week with word on which of ABC’s two genre pilots got a new name and pickup order and which got the dreaded call saying it was a pass this time. Read on for the details.

On the “no” side is “Gothica,” one that we were watching closely as it was described as a sexy Gothic soap set in the present day that weaves together a mythology incorporating the legends of Dracula, Jekyll and Hyde, Frankenstein, and Dorian Gray among others. Per Deadline, it had a good cast and some early buzz, but its premise of mixing famous horror literary characters just didn’t quite work.

On the other side of the spectrum, “Resurrection” is the new title of “The Returned,” and not only is ABC moving forward with it for the 2013-2014 television season, but they also provided Examiner with the cast photo you see below.

Based on a novel by Jason Mott being released this August, the lives of the people of Arcadia are forever changed when their deceased loved ones return out of nowhere in “Resurrection,” which comes from writer/executive producer Aaron Zelman with EP’s JoAnn Alfano, Jon Liebman, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner and director Charles McDougall. The series stars Omar Epps, Sam Hazeldine, Nicholas Gonzalez, Mark Hildreth, Kurtwood Smith, and Landon Gimenez.