A new project in development at Amazon Studios is being compared to the beloved 1970s BBC series "Upstairs, Downstairs," and the project underscores the ambitiousness of the studio’s push into drama development, Nellie Andreeva writes on Deadline.com.

"The digital studio has put in development ‘Grand Ave,’ a large-scale period drama set in 1910 Los Angeles," Andreeva writes. "Written by Ian Goldberg (‘Once Upon a Time’) based on a story he penned with producer Jessika Borsiczky (‘House of Lies’), ‘Grand Ave’ chronicles the explosive, overnight transformation of L.A. from small town to iconic American city."

The report notes that the other of Amazon Studios’ first two drama pilots, "The After," from "The X-Files" creator Chris Carter, is "a thriller that takes place at the moment of apocalypse."

Andreeva says of "Grand Ave": "The show revolves around a powerful, ruthless family and explores — in an upstairs/downstairs fashion — how the destiny of a select few coincided with a major metropolis on the verge of its grand arrival."

The project will be executive produced by Goldberg and Borsiczky, who also collaborated on ABC’s "Flash Forward."

Andreeva notes: "20th century Los Angeles is a popular drama setting this development season — the CW has a project about 1930s Hollywood, while ABC and CW dramas explore Malibu in 1976 and 1961, respectively."