Does ABC want a do-over on "Commander in Chief"?

Lost in the announcement that Shonda Rhimes had pitched yet another likely half-baked idea to ABC -- and ABC, despite the fact that her last half-baked idea, "Private Practice," has given them no end of trouble, said yes again -- is the fact that ABC also picked up a drama pilot from John Scott Shepherd.

The novelist has successfully pitched "I, Claudia," about a woman who doesn't realize she's about to contend for the presidency. Thus ABC continues to go where other networks fear to tread: dramas involving women in their 40s. (You can't be president if you're the age of the average female crime-solver on CBS.)

JSS is a friend of the blog whose first book (Henry's List of Wrongs) would later come to mind when a certain hit TV show hit the airwaves.

Since leaving Kansas City, John has been making his bones in Hollywood, working toward the day when he could captain a hit show of his own. He created a wonderful summer series for ABC that didn't deserve to die ("The Days"). At the time I noted that "The Days" really should've been on ABC Family -- and indeed, the mom on "The Days" wound up reincarnated (same actress, similar character) on "Kyle XY."

But from this first impression, "I, Claudia" looks like a network-sized idea. As the linked article suggests, this may be ABC's attempt to take another run at "Commander in Chief," a show that went into the starting gate ass backwards and never really had a chance of succeeding after that. Of course, there is a female POTUS on TV right now -- Cherry Jones' character in "24" -- but in Shepherd's formulation, it appears she'll be more than an accessory.