

Chris Columbus directed a mystery pilot so wild it never became a show.
Based on Ayelet Waldman’s Mommy Track Mysteries series of books, Applebaum centers on Juliet Applebaum (Rachelle Lefevre), a former public defender who becomes a private investigator to keep from being bored to death as a stay-at-home mom. Began as a pilot episode to a series, however released as TV movie.
Acting
Rachelle Lefevre carries unsold-show confidence.
Direction
Chris Columbus doing TV-pilot cozy mystery? Bizarre.

Director
Chris Columbus
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was developed for Lifetime but never ordered to series, making it a rare Columbus project that disappeared entirely. The Mommy Track Mysteries book series ran to five novels.
The 'mommy track' concept was already dated by 2012; the show's failure suggests audiences wanted their mom-detectives either darker (Sharp Objects) or campier (Desperate Housewives). This landed in the dead middle.