This will be at least the 3rd cop movie with a black lead that CBS has considered turning into a weekly TV series – "Beverly Hills Cop" and "Rush Hour" are the other 2. Of course we know that the network would eventually pass on the "Beverly Hills Cop" TV series which was to star Brandon T. Jackson as Axel Foley’s son (although a pilot was produced); the "Rush Hour" series, on the other hand, was ordered to series this year, as a mid-season replacement in early 2016. Jon Foo and Justin Hires are replacing Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in the roles of Lee and Carter from the original movie franchise. 

The network (maybe the *whitest* of the so-called Big Four – ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC) has given a pilot commitment to a "Training Day" TV series adaptation, which, as was reported on Monday of this week, Antoine Fuqua had been shopping around to the broadcast networks, with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and writer Will Beall ("Gangster Squad").

No ETA yet, and it’s obviously too early for specifics, but what we do know is that the potential series will likely be set in the present day, and, instead of following the exploits of a black crooked veteran cop and a white idealistic rookie, Fuqua may switch the races of the pair, and have the rookie played by a black actor, and the rogue veteran cop played by a white actor. I assumed it would follow the film’s basic structure, with 2 cops, the veteran, and the rookie, likely solving weekly crimes, as their methods collide… something like that.

Fuqua will executive produce and likely direct the pilot. And if CBS digs what they see when it’s all done, there might be a "Training Day" TV series coming to a small screen near you possibly a year from now (either as a summer 2016 series, or as a fall/winter 2016/2017 entry).

When the news of Fuqua shopping the project around first broke, I thought Fox would end up picking it up. It just feels like it’s more up their alley – a gritty crime noir. But maybe CBS wants to shake up its image a bit, in order to attract younger and more diverse audiences.

Given today’s announcement, we should hear about casting soon enough.