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Last time out, we took a look at the new series ordered by the broadcast and cable networks that should be showing up on our television screens in the next 12 or so months. Today I?d like to take a look at the genre related pilot projects in the works.

These concepts have not been ordered to series, and there?s a good chance we?ll never see them reach the light of day. But here they are.

Based on the U.K. series of the same name, "Eleventh Hour" has been ordered by CBS, and is being produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. The show revolves around Jacob Hood (Rufus Sewell) as a science advisor to the government. He and his bodyguard work to save people from abuses of science.

I?ve enjoyed the U.K. version on BBC America, and if this version is half as good, it?s a keeper. The Bruckheimer name only helps its chances.

J.J. Abrams has created "Fringe," a drama for Fox. It?s about an FBI agent played by Anna Torv who finds herself dealing with unexplained phenomena, and has to work with an institutionalized scientist whose life?s work may be at the center of the problem.

Abrams has a good track record, considering his involvement in both "Lost" and "Alias." However, the leaked script of the pilot has been severely bashed on the Internet. It didn?t sound good, but with a rewrite, and actual performances attached to it, who knows how it will turn out? Given its pedigree, I am hopeful about this pilot.

Another British import with a decent pedigree is "Life on Mars." It?s being produced for ABC by David E. Kelley. This show is about current day detective Sam Tyler (Jason O?Mara) who finds himself working as a cop in the 1970s after a car crash. Also starring are Colm Meaney as Gene Hunt and Rachelle Lefevre as Annie Cartright.

The U.K. version of this show was a television masterpiece. Kelley hiring Colm Meaney as Gene Hunt is inspired casting, and I can see him capturing the essence of the character. This pilot has been taking forever to get off the ground, and given that it?s been on the shelf so long, I?m surprised it hasn?t gotten stale. I loved the original, but don?t see this idea taking off on American TV. I think it would be too confusing for the average viewer.

"The Meant To Be?s" is a pilot ordered by CBS about a young woman who dies, but before she can cross over, she has to return to Earth and help people. Every few years a series pops up with a similar concept, and you?ll notice, there aren?t any on TV right now. That?s because they don?t tend to last. This one has a nice twist in the fact that it?s a formerly dead person who has to do the life fixing. I don?t see a long future in this one, if it even manages to make it to series.

"The Oaks" is a pilot ordered by Fox. It?s a drama about three couples who live in the same house in three different time periods -- 1967, 1987 and 2007. Their stories are tied together by the ghosts who haunt the house. The pilot is fully cast and shot. I am intrigued by this one, just because I want to see how they will make the concept work. I look forward to seeing the pilot.

HBO has ordered a pilot for "Patient 2344," a story set in a medical research institute in the near future. It seems like the short-lived CBS drama "Century City" a couple of years ago, except with doctors instead of lawyers. Since it?s HBO, if it moves forward, we?ll see all the episodes ordered. I don?t see it moving forward myself.

"Revolution" is a pilot ordered by the SciFi Channel. Let me quote directly from the Sci Fi Channel press release for this one:

New America is a colony settled by the now-named 'United State of America' on a planet resembling our own, located 50 light years away. Echoing many contemporary issues and themes, it is a futuristic version of a new world's passionate fight for freedom. The expansive drama centers on the Hart family one of the founding families of New America. Tom, a former military man turned industrialist, is the patriarch of the family facing great pressure from the government to increasingly tax the colonists already heavily burdened. His two sons have struggles of their own with one rebelling against his industrialist grandfather and the old America, the other more radical one heading toward revolution. His 16-year-old daughter is simply trying to find her way in this world. Add to this a new local governor torn between her allegiance to the colony and her desire for peace, and a young ambitious bureaucrat looking to bring the colony back under control.

I like the concept, and my feeling is this is meant to take over the dark and gritty niche left open by the conclusion of "Battlestar Galactica" later this year. There?s a lot of story in that synopsis, and I hope it gets the chance to tell it. Cost might be the only detriment to this making it to the air, given how tightly Sci Fi watches the purse strings.

Rockne O?Bannon of "Farscape" fame is producing "Warehouse 13" for the SciFi Channel. Again, let me just quote the press release.

After saving the life of the president, two FBI agents find themselves abruptly "promoted" and relocated to windswept South Dakota. Their new top-secret location is Warehouse 13 a massive, secret storage facility that houses every strange artifact, mysterious relic, fantastical object and supernatural souvenir ever collected by the U.S. government over the centuries. In addition to searching the country for several missing objects discovered stolen from the Warehouse, their job is to monitor for new reports of supernatural and paranormal activity that could indicate the presence of another object they must investigate and safely bring back to the vaults of Warehouse 13.

The description makes me think of this as a blend of ?X-Files? and ?Eureka,? both successful series. The problem is, these blends seldom work. But I am hopeful. I wonder if the Ark of the Covenant is in there somewhere.

And finally, we have a concept by producer Dan Fogelman for Fox. It?s a comedy about a family that moves into an exclusive gated community only to find that everyone else who lives there is an extraterrestrial. Sounds good for a laugh, and historically speaking, genre comedies have been more successful than dramas on the broadcast networks. If it?s well written and performed, it might make it.

Now, I?ve only covered live action pilots, not animated. They are the shows that definitely have pilot orders. Other concepts that have been announced in the past few months aren?t even that far. But if they do make it that far, You can count on hearing about it from me.

I am disappointed by the fact that ?Revolution? appears to be the only project coming up with even a chance of giving us some outer space action. I understand genre programming is more than space ships, but I have to admit, I like a good space battle as much as the next guy. Hopefully with the cost of CGI coming down, that more space based shows might make it to the airwaves.

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Ed Left is a columnist for Airlock Alpha, who was kind enough to take his mittens off long enough to type this article. He also is the Webmaster of Sci Fi On TV. He can be reached at eleft@airlockalpha.com.