Josh Schwartz lawyers up at ABC

Josh Schwartz's apparent quest to have a show on every broadcast network is one step closer to reality, thanks to ABC's order of a pilot he's executive producing.

The "Chuck" and "Gossip Girl" co-creator, who's also working on a CBS sitcom, will exec produce a one-hour pilot about a divorce lawyer who sees so much marital mayhem in her job that she decides never to get married herself. "Chuck" writer/co-exec producer Allison Adler is writing the script, Variety reports.

The show is based on a Los Angeles attorney who specializes in family law and who's a friend of Jennifer Klein, one of the pilot's executive producers (along with Schwartz, Adler, Stephanie Savage and Sheldon Turner). The lawyer made a deal with Klein to keep her identity a secret.

The CW will begin the third season of "Gossip Girl" on Sept. 14, while "Chuck" will return to NBC early next year. Like the ABC project, Schwartz's CBS comedy (which he's co-writing with "Chuck" scribe Matt Miller) is in the early stages of development. (Schwartz also created "The O.C." for FOX several seasons ago.)

In other development news, FOX has ordered a pilot called "Worthy" from "In Treatment" writer Davey Holmes, and CBS has given the go-ahead to a comedy pilot called "Open Books."

"Worthy" will center on a politician who struggles to do what's right while he's being blackmailed by a mob boss, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "Open Books" is an ensemble comedy about a book editor and her group of friends; "Will & Grace" and "Worst Week" veteran Gail Lerner is writing it.

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