A couple of esteemed TV veterans have landed pilot deals for the upcoming season.  First up, Peter Berg (Hancock) has closed a deal with NBC to write and direct the pilot for the spy drama M.I.C.E.  Berg previously wrote and directed the pilot for Friday Night Lights, based on his film of the same name.  He stayed on as executive producer of that series throughout its stellar run, so his involvement with M.I.C.E. is welcome news.  The show is based on the Israeli format The Gordin Cell that centers on a decorated Israeli Air Force officer in a high security post who has no idea that his parents were Russian spies.

His parents’ handler appears one day and forces the young man to choose between betraying his country and cooperating with Russian intelligence, or putting his family’s fate in jeopardy.  Hit the jump for much more, including news regarding House creator David Shore’s new series.

The title M.I.C.E. stands for Money, Ideology, Coercion, and Ego, which is an acronym used to understand the motives of spies in betraying their countries.  There's no word on how the show's nationalities will be altered for the American adaptation, but Berg will executive produce the series alongside Sarah Aubrey.  The two went after the rights hard after seeing the original show and admitted that they are both “obsessed” with Showtime’s Homeland, a successful American espionage series that's also based on an existing Israeli series.

Though Berg is gearing up to shoot his next feature, Lone Survivor, this fall, he apparently plans to stick around with M.I.C.E. through the first season should the pilot get picked up.  On Friday Night Lights, he handed the day-to-day reigns to showrunner Jason Katims after the pilot, but he’s keen on working in the writers room and being involved with production on M.I.C.E., noting that he “can’t think of a better time for television” right now.

Another high profile pilot just landed a production commitment.  Fresh off the series finale of House, creator David Shore is looking to venture into the legal world for his next series.  His untitled drama has landed at ABC with a pilot production commitment, and it’s described by THR as a procedural about "a former cop who uses his street smarts as a low-rent lawyer uses his street smarts to work the system for his clients while he battles his inner demons and attempts to rekindle his relationship with his ex-wife.”

Shore was a lawyer before becoming a writer on TV shows like Due South and The Practice.  He created House and shepherded the series through eight successful seasons, and was understandably a fairly in-demand guy following that show’s run.

Both M.I.C.E. and Shore’s untitled drama have only been given a pilot commitment so a series order is not a foregone conclusion, but the two projects have some talented muscle behind them so hopefully things turn out well.