CBS Greenlights Comedy Pilot ‘Hilda! (In Lights!)’; Follows 70-Year-Old Woman’s Quest for Broadway
According to CinemaDrame News Agency, CBS has officially ordered a pilot for a new single-camera comedy series titled Hilda! (In Lights!). The project centers on an elderly woman who moves to New York City to pursue her lifelong dream of acting on Broadway.
The move follows the network’s approval back in April of three additional scripts for the project, which is written and executive produced by Abbey Caldwell. According to the official logline, the series is “one of those classic shows about a plucky small-town optimist who moves to the big city to pursue her life-long dream of starring on Broadway. There’s just one teeny, tiny, totally inconsequential difference… our hero Hilda is a 70-year-old woman from Nebraska with absolutely no experience.”
In addition to Abbey Caldwell, non-writing executive producers include Will Graham, Max Linsky, and Tonya Davis from Invitation Media. Produced by CBS Studios, the project is being developed for consideration for the 2027–2028 broadcast season.
The pilot order for Hilda! comes amid a wave of new original programming commitments by CBS. Notable upcoming projects include the vampire comedy Eternally Yours, created by Ghosts co-showrunners Joe Port and Joe Wiseman, which is scheduled to premiere on October 8. Premiering on the same day is Cupertino, a Silicon Valley-set legal drama from Robert and Michelle King. Meanwhile, The Tillbrooks, a multi-camera family comedy pilot with a historical twist from creator Tara Hernandez, was passed on following evaluation and will not be moving forward.
Looking ahead to the 2026–2027 season, CBS’s slate includes NCIS: New York, a new spin-off starring LL Cool J as he reprises his role as Sam Hanna, set to debut on October 6. Additionally, Einstein, a comedy-drama starring Matthew Gray Gubler as the brilliant yet directionless great-grandson of Albert Einstein, is slated to air during the midseason of that same cycle.
