NEW AMSTERDAM (Wednesdays, 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT): Directed and executive-produced by visionary Lasse Hallstrm ("My Life As a Dog," "The Cider House Rules," "Chocolat," "The Hoax") and written by Allan Loeb ("Things We Lost in the Fire," "21") and Christian Taylor ("Showboy," "Six Feet Under"), NEW AMSTERDAM is the story of a New York homicide detective unlike any other. He is brilliant, mysterious, reckless, magnetic, unknowable. And he has a profound secret he is immortal. In 1642, JOHN AMSTERDAM (Nikolaj Coster Waldau, "Kingdom of Heaven"), then a Dutch solider in the colony of New Amsterdam later to become New York City stepped in front of a sword to save the life of a Native Indian girl during a massacre of her indigenous tribe. The girl in turn rescued Amsterdam, weaving an ancient spell that conferred immortality upon him. Amsterdam will not age, she told him, until he finds his one true love. Only then will he become whole and ready for mortality. But Amsterdam has found this to be a mixed blessing. Over the course of three centuries, he's experienced endless adventure and honed his many talents. But everyone Amsterdam meets must leave him in time; lovers and children die while he remains young. His sole confidant and current lifelong friend is the sage jazz club owner OMAR (Stephen Henderson, "Law & Order: SVU"), the keeper of Amsterdam's secret, as well as a few of his own. As the exhilaration of eternal life has given way to emotional isolation and bitter loneliness, Amsterdam discovers the blessing has become a curse. Bringing to bear the unorthodox techniques and unique knowledge gained from his vast life experience, Amsterdam today is one of the NYPD's best homicide detectives, sparring with his vibrant, strong-willed partner EVA MARQUEZ (Zuleikha Robinson, "Rome," "The Lone Gunmen") as they solve difficult murder cases. But when Amsterdam suffers and then recovers from what appears to be a massive heart attack while chasing a suspect, and DR. SARA DILLANE (Alexie Gilmore, "Find Love") pronounces him dead in the ER, he realizes that the Indian girl's prophesy may have come true he felt the pain in his heart that she had foretold so long ago. His soul mate must have been nearby. As he works to find a killer on the streets of New York, Amsterdam understands that his own life and possibly his death have changed forever.

PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Regency Television, Scarlet Fire Films

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Allan Loeb, David Manson, Lasse Hallstrm, Leslie Holleran, Steven Pearl

WRITERS: Allan Loeb & Christian Taylor

DIRECTOR: Lasse Hallstrm

CAST: Nikolaj Coster Waldau as John Amsterdam, Zuleikha Robinson as Eva Marquez, Alexie Gilmore as Dr. Sara Dillane, Stephen Henderson as Omar

Cast Peter Wingfield as an even older immortal and I'm in.

it strikes me as kind of stupid to go far enough off the sanity map to set up that premise and then discard it for a modern-day cop show when you could change direction slightly and have a potentially kickass series about magic-wielding Delaware fighting off the Dutch and the English (though, admittedly, the cop-show idea does have the virtue of being slightly cheaper).

It looks like Fox is not convinced that "New Amsterdam" is going to be the network's next big hit.
The network has pulled the "Highlander" sound-a-like off its fall schedule, moving it to mid-season when people actually tune in to watch Fox. In fact, according to Variety, that's exactly what network officials are hoping to accomplish: More viewers in the fall when "American Idol" isn't dominating the schedule.

I hope Hamill got some kind of payoff, because the plots are awfully close....

And I watched both "Highlander" and "Forever Knight" and not sure how this one is a rip off of those. "Highlander" was about one Immortal of many who were fighting to be "the only one," and "Forever Knight" was about a vampire

And I watched both "Highlander" and "Forever Knight" and not sure how this one is a rip off of those.

Cast Peter Wingfield as an even older immortal and I'm in.

I have to say, the premise of this show really intriques me, and I'll be watching the pilot; but with FOX's record of cancelling shows, I'm afraid of getting attached.

Not good news, sources say that this series will be pretty good but it looks like Fox is hobbling it from the start.

I don't quite understand how the writer's strike is motivating them to cut the show order? If the scripts are already written, wouldn't the network benefit from them filming those episodes? So they have more scripted content to show?

I saw the pilot... and LOVED it. I hope it doesn't suffer the same fate as my beloved Journeyman, but I feel that FOX is sending this to the slaughter in a timeslot opposite Moonlight.

I saw the pilot... and LOVED it. I hope it doesn't suffer the same fate as my beloved Journeyman, but I feel that FOX is sending this to the slaughter in a timeslot opposite Moonlight.