The Oaks (TV series)
| The Oaks | |
|---|---|
| Created by | David Schulner |
| Starring |
Sienna Guillory Matt Lanter Shannon Lucio Matthew Morrison Romy Rosemont Michael Rispoli Jeremy Renner Bahar Soomekh Kyle Kaplan Mackenzie Milone |
| Country of origin | United States |
The Oaks is an American supernatural drama television pilot, created by David Schulner for the Fox network's 2008/2009 season. The addition to the Fox line-up was speculated to be a much-needed high-concept drama, purportedly to compete in ratings with ABC's Lost, Desperate Housewives, and Grey's Anatomy, and with CBS's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and its various spin-off shows. In spite of making an early blind series commitment, Fox did not pick up the drama for the 2008/2009 season. It was reportedly shopped to other networks, with a UK remake of the show, Marchlands, produced in 2010.
The Oaks follows the lives of three families, in different time periods, who all occupy the same house haunted by a restless spirit. The previous house owners also appear to their successors as ghosts. Writer Schulner explains, "Each personal story, each small relationship story is tied to a larger ghost story. I can't tell the story of one family without telling the story of another family that lived there."
David Schulner wrote the script and was inspired when moving into a new house himself, thinking about those who had lived there previously. In 2007, after a heated bidding war between Fox, ABC and CBS for Schulner's concept for The Oaks, it was eventually narrowed down to CBS and Fox, with Fox ultimately taking the show for their line up in August, 2007.
Shawn Ryan, Gina Matthews, Grant Scharbo and with Michael Cuesta produced The Oaks. Cuesta directed the pilot titled Amelia. Production on the series officially began on November 5, 2007 with the filming of the pilot episode. "Amelia" was filmed on location in South Pasadena, California, however, Schuler and Ryan participated in the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike that began that day at 12:01 A.M., causing the two to be absent on set for filming. On November 12, it was announced that the 1988 portion of the series would make tonal changes to become more comedic, along with other cast changes to accommodate. However, the changes to The Oaks casting and tone was approved by Schulner and Ryan. Filming on the pilot was completed in late November.
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