‘Without A Trace’ Creator Hank Steinberg Seals New Deal With Fox Entertainment

Fox Entertainment has sealed a deal with TV scribe Hank Steinberg, the exec producer behind the network’s upcoming miseason drama “Doc.” Under the agreement, the latest in what Fox calls its “broadcast direct deals,” Steinberg will develop new scripted dramas to be produced and owned by Fox for the network.

The deal was announced Thursday by FOX Television Network prexy Michael Thorn. “Hank is an invaluable creative partner and collaborator, already delivering the intense new medical procedural ‘Doc’ to the network,” Thorn said in a statement. “Expanding this relationship builds on Hank’s proven track record for creating undeniable, broad-appeal franchises, and with his incomparable voice, will bring even more incredible, unexpected entertainment to Fox’s audiences worldwide.”

Steinberg’s prolific career includes CBS’ seven-season police procedural “Without a Trace,” as well as TNT’s hit post-apocalyptic drama “The Last Ship” and ABC’s social justice legal drama “For Life.”

“The experience of working on ‘Doc’ with Michael, Brooke Bowman and the entire Fox team has been one of the most rewarding of my career,” Steinberg said in a statement. “Their passion and support from the moment we pitched the show has been unwavering, and Michael’s clarity and vision as the distributor of the content creates such a cohesive dynamic within which to work. I’ve always admired the risk-taking of Fox’s brand within the realm of network programming, and I really look forward to continuing and expanding on our success together.”

Other producers and talent developing for Fox under “broadcast direct deals” include writer/producer Dan Harmon (“Community”); producer/actor Denis Leary (“Rescue Me”); Academy Award-winning filmmaker Rodney Rothman (“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”), creator/writer/producer Matt Nix (“Burn Notice”), and writer/producer Justin Adler (“Life in Pieces”). Harmon’s pact led to the animated Fox comedy “Krapopolis,” while Leary is behind Fox’s upcoming miseason comedy “Going Dutch.”

As for “Doc,” which Steinberg is exec producing with showrunner Barbie Kligman and Erwin Stoff, the series is based on the Italian series “Doc – Nelle tue mani.” Molly Parker stars as a doctor who must recalibrate after a brain injury erases the last eight years of her life. Sony Pictures Television and Fox Entertainment Studios are behind the show.

Steinberg’s other credits include the 2001 HBO film “61,” as wekk as the biographical drama “RFK” for FX. Steinberg also created and was executive producer of ABC’s “The Nine,” which he wrote with his sister, KJ Steinberg. In 2010, HarperCollins published Steinberg’s novel, “Out of Range,” which he then adapted into a screenplay for Paramount Pictures.