NBC Is Developing 'Gatsby', a Police Drama Inspired by The Great Gatsby
NBC is developing a new police drama called Gatsby, a modern-day take on F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel. Deadline reported the project on 30 October 2026.
In television, "in development" means a network is working on a show before it decides whether to order episodes. A police procedural is a drama that follows investigators as they solve crimes, usually one case at a time. Gatsby fits that mould, with a twist borrowed from the book.
The show centres on Det. Jay Gatsby, whom Deadline describes as a devilishly charming investigator with a con man's gift for reading people. He shares the story with New York State Police Det. Nicole "Nicky" Carraway. Nicky is decorated and was born to be a cop, but she dreams of becoming a writer.
Her surname is a nod to Nick Carraway, the narrator of Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby. Nicky is a female counterpart to that character.
The project comes from writers and executive producers Jake Coburn and Jason Tracey. Coburn was co-showrunner and executive producer on NBC's The Hunting Party, which ran for two seasons. He also co-created and executive produced NBC's crime drama The Endgame. A showrunner is the writer who runs a series day to day.
Tracey created and ran CBS' CSI: Vegas. He was also an executive producer on Elementary for all seven seasons.
Universal Television is producing the series. Writers and producers with this kind of track record are often hired when a network wants a show built around a known name and a clear hook, and the hook here is easy to grasp: a famous literary character, reimagined as a detective with a sharp eye and a complicated past.
What happens next is the decision that matters most for anyone hoping to watch. Until NBC orders episodes, Gatsby remains a project in development, with a premise, two lead characters and a team behind it.
