Fox has ordered 13 episodes of an ambitiously sexy new series about ancient Egypt. Hieroglyph is described as an action-drama that “follows a notorious thief who is plucked from prison to serve the Pharoah, navigating palace intrigue, seductive concubines, criminal underbellies, and even a few divine sorcerers.” The way its described makes the content sound a little racy for a broadcast network, but leave it to Fox to figure out a way to show sex without actually showing it.
Fox chairman Kevin Reilly said the network’s decision to set a show in ancient Egypt stemmed from a desire to produce a show that would integrate deceit, sex, intrigue, sex, and fantasy (sex). The show is being produced by Peter Chernin, Katherine Pope, and Fringe’s Miguel Sapochnik, as well as Pacific Rim’s Travis Beacham, who also penned the pilot. The script for Hieroglyph has been floating around at Fox since 2011-12 development season, just narrowly missing the cut for a pilot order then. Filming is expected to begin in early 2014.