‘American Idol XIII’: Jennifer Lopez, Ryan Seacrest teaming up again for NBC series

Who thought that Jennifer Lopez was going to use her time on “American Idol” this season to segue into some sort of other TV acting gig? It’s definitely not something that we saw coming, but it looks like she will definitely be diving more into it moving forward.

Specifically, NBC has ordered straight to series a 13-episode show entitled “Shades of Blue,” which makes us wonder already if there are fifty shades of it. J.Lo will both star and executive produce the project, which also has “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest on board as an EP. The story revolves around her character of a single mother and a dirty cop assigned to work for an anti-corruption task force with the FBI. So basically, it’s another show that feels like a version of “The Mentalist,” “White Collar,” “Homeland,” or may other shows. There’s not a ton in here that is classified as original.

But Clearly, NBC still has enough confidence in this show to want to give it a pretty impressive order for a run without it even coming on the air, and that is really saying something. Their belief is big that this show can turn into a hit, and maybe it will at the end of the day given that J.Lo could bring in some viewers. The struggle with it is going to be finding a way to point to itself as something new and original in what is already a pretty-crowded TV landscape.

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Photo: Fox