NBC seems to be picking up a lot of pilots lately, and here are two more. Cape is about a cop who decides to become a superhero so he can clear his name and get back together with his son. It's written by Tom Wheeler and will be produced by Lloyd Braun and Gail Berman. I'm surprised they didn't just add the character to Heroes. He could have been Matt's old partner or something.

Outsourced is about a guy who is transferred to India to become head of a customer service department. It's based on a movie from a few years ago. Office director Ken Kwapis is going to direct the pilot.

On a side note, I chuckle every time I see the name Lloyd Braun attached to a project. That was the name of the character on Seinfeld who gave George all sorts of problems. He was named after the real Braun. I picture him at his desk, chewing weird gum, making decisions about TV shows.

As someone who was a regular watcher of The Guardian, it makes me happy to see that the star of that show is coming back to the home screens. Simon Baker will star in the CBS drama The Mentalist. The pilot has been given the go-ahead by the network, which mean Simon could be back on the schedule by next fall (if the show is picked up).

The Mentalist sounds like it should be something like a Kreskin extravaganza, but it's not. Instead it's described as the story of Patrick Jane, a man with heightened skills of observation who uses his talents to solve crimes.

Let the copycatting begin!

Actually, I'm surprised that, two years into the Lost phenomenon, there isn't a "mysterious deserted island" show on all four networks, the CW, MyNetwork, the FoodTV, and the Hot Network. It was quite a blissful time for TV viewers. But that blisfulness is about to be shattered; as NBC is developing a show called Isla Du Sol, about a Brazilian woman who travels to a mysterious island to satisfy her aunt's dying wish. There she finds things out about her past that she had never known before.

I'm sure there will be flashbacks, hidden and not-so-hidden clues, and lots and lots of thick vegetation. But I'm sure it'll be quality; it's created by Tom Wheeler, who is writing an updated version of The A-Team for the CW. Oh, never mind.