Lost and Found is one of those projects that's been swirling around in the ether for the past couple of years. Chris Levinson penned the one-hour script for NBC a year and a half ago. When the network's old regime passed on the project, it got lost in the shuffle. But now it's been found again, because the network recently gave it the green light.

The story, from Wolf Films and Universal Media Studios, centers on Tessa, a quirky, offbeat female LAPD detective who gets sent to the basement to work on John and Jane Doe cases. That's what happens to cops who butt heads with the higher-ups.

But Levinson says don't expect another slick CSI-type drama. "There are exposed pipes, it's grimy and dingy, and can't be further from the glossy 'CSI' shows."

Wolf Films' Nena Rodrigue originally approached Levinson about doing a crime drama involving unidentified victims. At the time, Levinson was co-executive producer on Wolf's Law & Order, but wasn't interested in doing another show like all the others on TV.

But the idea took hold when she added a twisted sense of humor and harked back to the 1980s crime shows she loved as a kid. Wonder who they'll get to play Tessa. Kyra Sedgwick and Emily Deschanel are already spoken for.