ABC Pilot

This article is about the unaired ABC pilot. You may be looking for the official Lifetime pilot.

ABC Pilot

Season

Episode

ABC

01

Written by

Marc Cherry

Directed by

Paul McGuigan

Starring

Ana Ortiz - Marisol Duarte
Dania Ramirez - Rosie Falta
Roselyn Sanchez - Carmen Verde
Judy Reyes - Zoila Del Barrio
Edy Ganem - Valentina Del Barrio
Rebecca Wisocky - Evelyn Ford
Tom Irwin - Adrian Powell
Brianna Brown - Taylor Slate
Brett Cullen - Michael Slate
Mariana Klaveno - Peri Davis
Grant Show - Spence Davis
Drew Van Acker - Remi Delacourt
Angelique Cabral - Zurina
Amir Talai - Amir
and Susan Lucci - Genevieve Delacourt

Guest Starring

Ryan Alosio - Max
Wilmer Calderon - Shiv

The ABC Pilot was the original 1st episode of Devious Maids. After the series was turned down by ABC, it was then picked up by Lifetime, and so changes were made before the official premiere was complete.

Contrasts between ABC & Lifetime pilots[]

Flora[]

Originally she was named "Florencia Sanchez", though she still preferred for people to address her as "Flora".^[1]
Maids Rosie, Carmen, Zoila and Valentina are first seen discussing Flora's murder outside of the Powell mansion instead of at her funeral. The same goes for Marisol, who watches the maids from afar.^[1]
- Rosie mentions having last seen Flora at the store where they barely even said "hello". No mentions of where the maids last interact with Flora are included in the Lifetime pilot.^[1]
- Flora is noted to come from a poor family in a town in El Salvador, which happens to be the neighboring town of Carmen's family.^[1]
The ABC pilot notes the maids of being aware of how isolated Flora was, as she'd discuss her family and laugh at their jokes, but it never seemed to come easy to her. Zoila admits that she was not surprised to learn the maid had been murdered.^[1]
There are versions of the ABC pilot where the maids dine in a restaurant after attending Flora's funeral; this does not make it into Lifetime's pilot.

Evelyn & Adrian[]

Originally named "Evelyn Ford", she and Adrian Powell are divorced, with the former trying to poach her ex-husband's maid before she is murdered.^[1]
- However, in some versions of the ABC pilot, Evelyn and Adrian are still just unhappily married, just like in the Lifetime pilot.^[2]
Unlike the Lifetime pilot where Adrian's wealth goes unexplained, the ABC pilot depicts him as a renowned fashion designer.^[1]
Adrian's invitation to Michael's birthday brunch differs, as the ABC pilot shows Evelyn having requested Taylor invite him, but the Lifetime pilot makes it out to be he was simply invited as a friend.^[1]
The note Flora had written and hidden before her murder is also exposed differently, as the ABC pilot depicts Adrian coming across it at the end, reading and promptly burning it. The Lifetime series does not show the note being found until the second episode, "Setting the Table", where Marisol finds it and Adrian grabs it from her before she is able to finish reading it.^[1]

Marisol[]

The biggest difference made in Marisol's story is that of her motives. Unlike the Lifetime pilot, which has her going undercover as a maid to get her son out of jail, the ABC pilot made it about getting her husband out of jail. This is first hinted at when she makes mention of him when trying to cheer of Taylor (no mention is made about her son in Lifetime's version), and then the pilot ends with her visiting him. Another distinction to be made is that on her way to visiting her husband, Marisol has flashes of finding out he's been arrested. While the Lifetime pilot features no flashbacks at all, the second episode, "Setting the Table", has similar flashes following the teaser where Marisol learns of her son's arrest.^[1]

Taylor & Michael[]

Originally, Taylor and Michael's surname was "Slate", and Olivia's full name was "Olivia Cutler Rice".^[1]
In Michael and Olivia's divorce, among the things Taylor lists off that Michael surrendered to her, the ABC pilot notes one as being a cabin they possessed in Big Bear. The Lifetime pilot instead replaces this with a Jaguar.^[1]

Rosie[]

Instead of simply calling her mother to speak to her son Miguel, the ABC pilot has Rosie share a scene with Spence were she explains her mother has to visit her sister Maria that owns a phone, as she does not possess one herself. In between Rosie calling and someone actually answering, there is a flashback of Rosie swimming through muddy water and getting past the border control, sneaking into the United States. No such flashback, or rather any flashbacks, exist in the Lifetime pilot.^[1]
The ABC pilot, unlike Lifetime's, sets up a possible romance between Rosie and Spence. The difference is, however, is that Spence appears to be coming onto Rosie more than what she's comfortable with, turning the maid off some.^[1]

Peri & Spence[]

Originally, Peri and Spence's surname is "Davis", and Tucker was named "Toby Davis". It should also be noted that the ABC pilot only depicts Spence as having won a single Soap Opera Digest Award, whereas the Lifetime pilot has enhanced it to two.^[1]
The reporter sent to interview Peri is named "Nancy O'Dell", whereas the Lifetime pilot changes it to "Brenda Colfax". The tabloid that said reporter comes from is also changed from "E.T." to "Showbiz L.A.". In the ABC pilot, it's mentioned that Brenda made fun of Peri's dress at the Golden Globes, whereas the ABC pilot states that it was at the Red Carpet for the Oscars. Peri is also noted to be shooting a film in France for six months coming up, but this is eventually changed to Rome.^[1]

Carmen[]

Originally, Carmen's surname was "Verde". Unlike the Lifetime pilot where Carmen replaces the maid Bonita who was caught stealing the silver, in the ABC version she replaces Bonita who was fired for vacuuming the leftover ecstasy Carmen's boss gave her boyfriend for his birthday.^[1]
Carmen is also said to originate from El Salvador, whereas the Lifetime pilot establishes that she is from Puerto Rico. There is also a flashback to Carmen's life in El Salvador where she sings in a restaurant, but her mother puts her down afterwards, telling her that she is not special and that she should forget her dream. Not only is there no flashback for Carmen or any other characters in the Lifetime pilot, but the Lifetime series eventually establishes that her mother died from cancer when she was a child.^[1]
The method in which Carmen goes about slipping her employer her demo differs from that of the Lifetime pilot, as instead of putting it on her boss' breakfast tray, she attempts to play it at a party. This winds up failing though, as while the Lifetime pilot features Odessa getting the CD away in time, the ABC pilot has the boyfriend of Carmen's employer prevent her from playing it. Still, Carmen gets both out of the way, as Odessa winds up in the hospital after losing her prosthetic leg, and the boyfriend of Carmen's employer is sent to rehab for his cocaine addiction.^[1]
One of the script re-writes introduces a character named Max, portrayed by Ryan Alosio. He is one of the guests at Zurina's party,^[3] and would go on to have sex with Carmen. Some shots of this scene were used by Lifetime in their early video promos for the first season.^[4]

Zurina & co.[]

Carmen's employers and co-workers consist of the most changes between the ABC pilot and the Lifetime pilot, as she originally worked for a musician named Zurina (under a different name at the time), portrayed by Angelique Cabral.
- A casting call for Angelique Cabral's character goes as followed: "30 years old, tough and aloof, Xaviera is a very successful recording star, a Cuban-American from Florida, and she has a staff of four: Jace, Sam, Carmen and Shiv. A self-absorbed woman who climbed the ladder of success without handing out a single favor, Xaviera is plagued by Aldo, a boyfriend who's a shameless junkie. A woman who's deeply interested in the future of Number One, Xaviera refuses to allow her staff to speak to her directly, and her annoying situation with Aldo is handled decisively when he overdoses on what appears to be cocaine..."^[2]
  - During constant re-writes, the name of Angelique Cabral's character changes from "Phoenix"^[1] and "Xaviera"^[5], finally settling on "Zurina".^[6] The character was also supposed to be a series' regular^[6], but ultimately the whole story was scrapped and her character was replaced by Alejandro Rubio (Matt Cedeño).
  - Amir Talai was to portray "Amir", though he was originally known as "Jace Gold". As the homosexual housekeeper, he'd often be butting heads with Carmen. Like Angelique Cabral, Amir Talai was meant to be a series' regular, but when the story was scrapped he was replaced by Odessa Burakov (Melinda Page Hamilton).^[1]^[5]
  - Carmen's employer was also dating a cocaine addict by the name of "Aldo", originally portayed by Benny Ciaramello.^[7] The character was later renamed and recast, however, going on to be called "Shiv", portrayed by Wilmer Calderon.^[8] Before this though, "Shiv" was the name of a third co-worker of Carmen's, who was later apparently cut during re-writes.^[2]^[1]
  - The one character from Carmen's original group of associated characters to remain throughout re-writes is Sam; however, in the ABC pilot he is already in a relationship with the maid, whereas he is still trying to pursue her in the Lifetime pilot. The character was originally meant to fill a recurring role, however, and was portrayed by actor McKinley Freeman. By the time Lifetime had picked up the series and began doing re-writes, the actor would have left the project and been recast by Wolé Parks.^[1]^[9]

Zoila & Valentina[]

Originally, Zoila and Valentina's surname was "Del Barrio". In the ABC pilot, Valentina and Remi are not officially acquainted, and so there is a scene where Remi is at the pool that has Genevieve formally introducing the two. As they later chat over tea, Zoila approaches them to take Valentina aside instead of just watching from afar.^[1]
During the night when Valentina gets up to redesign the uniform Zoila bought her, the ABC pilot depicts Zoila as sleeping in a chair, whereas the Lifetime pilot shows her sleeping on the couch. Also, the next day when Valentina reveals her new uniform to Remi, it's not by bringing French toast at the poolside, but instead when he's still in his pajamas and robe at the dining table. He goes to take a bite of his apple but drops it at the sight of the maid, who proceeds to pick it up for him.^[1]

Remi & Genevieve[]

Originally, Remi and Genevieve's surname is "Delacourt". The reasoning behind Genevieve's suicide attempt also differs, as the ABC pilot explains she tried flirting with the UPS man who wasn't interested, whereas the Lifetime pilot explains that Jamal the poolboy left her. Instead of Remi agreeing to move back in as a way to get Genevieve to go to the hospital, Zoila claims that Remi doesn't bring friends around anyone because they saw her by the pool and were absolutely taken by her beauty.^[1]
In the ABC pilot, Remi explains that his favorite meal is duck à l'orange, unlike the Lifetime pilot where he shares that his favorite thing for breakfast is French toast.^[1]

Trivia[]

In the ABC pilot, Carmen's boss Zurina was in possession of a small dog that'd sometimes be under the care of the maid. Due to the many re-writes and re-shoots of her storyline, Carmen still carries the dog in some of her group scenes with the other maids in the official premiere.
In one of the original scripts for the ABC pilot, errors are made when noting Valentina's age. At one point there is a description noting the young maid to be 18 years of age, but in that very same scene Zoila states that, like Flora, her daughter is 19. Later on in the script when talking to Genevieve and Remi, it's said that Valentina is 17, with her birthday coming up.^[1]
When ABC originally turned down Devious Maids, Mariana Klaveno (Peri Davis) sought out and landed a leading role as "Lily Munster" in NBC's Mockingbird Lane, a reboot of the 1960s sitcom, The Munsters. However, when Devious Maids was eventually picked up by Lifetime, ABC Studios refused to let Klaveno out of her contract, despite the actress offering to serve in a recurring role for her character as a compromise. While Klaveno was forced to serve as series regular for the first season, her role in Mockingbird Lane was taken over by actress Portia de Rossi.^[10]
In the early stages of writing the ABC pilot, Marc Cherry had originally intended for Genevieve Delacourt to have killed Flora. This was later changed, however, when Susan Lucci was cast in the role.^[11]
Wilmer Calderon, who was originally cast as Zurina's boyfriend Shiv, was later cast as Flora's cousin, Danny, in "Scrambling the Eggs".