Lots of pilot pick-ups from the major networks.

The Hollywood Reporter says NBC has handed out a cast-contingent pilot order to the drama, M.O.N.Y from Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson. The network also has greenlighted Area 52, a comedy pilot to be directed by Dean Parisot.

M.O.N.Y centers on a socially conscious New York public advocate who is thrust into the uncomfortable position of becoming interim mayor and struggles to balance his moral center with the hardball realities of New York politics.

Area 52 is a workplace comedy set at a remote location in the Nevada desert, where the U.S. government houses an extraterrestrial. Mike Armstrong wrote the script and is executive producing with Parisot and David Latt.

Fox picked up comedy pilot, The Rules of Starting Over, executive produced by the Farrelly brothers. It revolves around a 35-year-old and his buddies - all newly single after years of marriage - who jump back into the dating scene and learn the painful rules of starting over. Chris Pappas and Mike Bernier wrote the project, with Bobby Farrelly directing the pilot.

ABC is taking on American Family, a comedy pilot from Jay Scherick and Dave Ronn. It revolves around a modern family that does what it takes to maintain appearances for the neighbors despite the chaos and challenges that are part of raising a family.

The network also picked up a one-hour comedy pilot from Rina Mimoun and Warner Bros. TV; it centers on a successful female attorney who leaves her high-powered big-city law firm to move home to Savannah, Georgia. Her crazy relatives live, and winds up joining her father's family law practice.