CBS has added a medical drama to its mix of hourlong pilots, greenlighting The Surgeon General from Lie To Me creator/executive producer Samuel Baum. Baum wrote and executive produces the CBS TV Studios-produced project, which centers on Dr. John Sherman — the most powerful doctor in the nation, the Surgeon General, who has 315 million patients. As “America’s Doctor,” Sherman and his team battle the powerful forces of politics and business, fighting to protect the health of everyday Americans. The Surgeon General stems from the development deal Baum inked with CBS TV Studios last fall.

This is the second CBS drama pilot with a doctor at the center, joining the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced conspiracy thriller Hostages starring Toni Collette as a successful DC surgeon selected to operate on the President of the United States who is thrust into the middle of a political conspiracy. As usual, the network is betting heavily on the classic cop/crime, legal and medical franchises. Its cop prospects include Beverly Hills Cop, Backstrom and the NCIS: LA spinoff, its legal fare The Advocates and The Ordained. The pilots will now be cast and filmed, with CBS deciding in May which ones will go to series for launch next season.



For a full list of the broadcast pilots and all of Deadline’s pilot season coverage, go to our Pilot Panic page.

Playwright/TV writer Baum, repped by CAA and Jackoway Tyerman, co-created the 2006 ABC drama series Evidence before creating the Tim Roth starrer Lie To Me, which ran on Fox for three seasons.