NBC Delays 'Mockingbird Lane' Pilot To Summer

Want to see if a cult comedy can be effectively changed into a drama? Even if NBC likes the pilot, viewers will have to wait at least until the beginning of 2013 to check it out themselves.

NBC has put a hold on "Mockingbird Lane," the proposed dramatic remake of "The Munsters" from Bryan Fuller and director Bryan Singer. The reason? The network wants to give it "extra attention," according to Variety.

That means the pilot for "Mockingbird Lane" won't be ready to film until the summer, and won't take place the same time as the others. The good news about that is that actors attached to projects that become broken pilots -- pilots not picked up for series -- will know the fate of their shows by then, and would be available for casting.

Fuller and Singer had been deeply involved in pre-production, and were set to begin filming in just a couple weeks. There's no word on whether the schedule change will affect Singer, who makes his living directing films, and could be involved in a project like maybe his proposed adaptation of the comic "Freedom Formula."

No one said transitioning a popular comedy like "The Munsters" into more of a primetime drama called "Mockingbird Lane" was going to be easy, and NBC apparently realized some issues late in the game they felt needed to be corrected. They are giving Fuller, the creator of shows like "Pushing Daisies" and "Dead Like Me" -- time to work those issues out.

No cast has been announced for "Mockingbird Lane" yet, so it's not clear who exactly would've been on the set by the time the pilot was filming anyway. It is possible that a cast has been put together, but simply not announced.

It's not clear if the issues surrounding the pilot were due to story, mechanical aspects of the concept or casting. But NBC seems determined to give this project a full go, and is willing to take the extra time to make sure it's done right.