Category: News

Who’s the American Helen Mirren?

NBC’s track record with adapting international series for American audiences has been rather hit or miss (Highs: The Office. Lows: Coupling. New Lows: Kath & Kim.) so the recent news that the peacock is set to adapt the groundbreaking UK drama series Prime Suspect is a bit…suspect.

Prime SuspectThe original ran in seven parts from 1991 to 2006 and starred Helen Mirren as lady-of-a-certain-age chief homicide detective Jane Tennison, a role that made waves when the series debuted as it was the first to feature a woman as the head of a murder investigation unit. A hit with critics, it earned Mirren two Emmy awards for lead actress in a miniseries and made her a household name in the US when it aired as part of PBS’s Mystery series.

With such a stellar pedigree, NBC should take measured steps to ensure that their Prime Suspect will have its own tone that sets it apart from workhorse Law & Order procedurals (no L&O: Across the Pond, thank you). The crux of the show’s success will be in casting the lead. Considering such an acclaimed and formidable actress originated the role, someone award-winning caliber must come on board to give the US version some clout in standing up (and out) to the plethora of other crime-centered dramas scattered around the dial, especially ones with strong female characters (NBC’s own Emmy-winning Mariska Hargitay, for example). American producers will no doubt want to sex up the role, which means skewing the age range down, considering the hesitancy to cast women over 40 in high-profile leads. This actress age-ism is a shame because, like a fine wine, the best only get better with time, and this kind of role demands someone who’s been around the block.

Jean Smart as Martha Logan on Day 5 of "24"Topping my “For Your Consideration” list would be Jean Smart. While most well-known for comedy – first gaining recognition on Designing Women, but racking up 3 Emmy wins in the last decade for her guest role on Frasier and one for supporting actress playing Christina Applegate’s martini-swilling mother on Samantha Who? – she’s also proven a knack for the dramatics, and earned rave reviews, with her portrayal of the president’s unstable, whistle-blowing wife on the fifth season of 24.

Opening the forum for discussion: Who else is an ideal contender to take up the American “Queen” of police mantle?

Bryan Fuller: Back from the Dead

Bryan Fuller, creator/producer of top-notch now-defunct series Pushing Daisies, Dead Like Me and Wonderfalls, will be teaming with Bryan Singer (director of X-Men and Usual Suspects, and exec producer of FOX series House) to adapt the Augusten Burroughs novel “Sellevision,” whose previous memoir “Running With Scissors” was turned into a feature helmed by Glee and Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy and starred Alec Baldwin.

The hourlong comedy-drama for NBC will revolve around the inner workings at a fictional home shopping channel. Being a world rich with great metaphors of consumerism, buying happiness and chasing material things, Fuller stresses the show won’t satirize the home-shopping genre itself but instead will be a more grounded take on that sphere through the eyes of one player in it.

Fuller also has a second script — his first stab at a half-hour comedy — in the works at the Peacock. No Kill is a workplace laffer set inside a no-kill animal shelter. Fuller, a self-described “animal lover,” believes that there is humor in people who identify more with animals than other humans, and that his show will be a comedy about “becoming human.”

In between these two scripts, Fuller is still working on a comicbook adaptation of his late ABC series Pushing Daisies, and remains hopeful that the 12 issues of the comicbook will eventually serve as a blueprint for a Pushing Daisies movie.

Hey Donkey, I’m Mark Wahlberg – I Produce Scorsese’s New HBO Series

Say "hi" to your mutha for me.Further cementing their relationship with HBO, after hit shows Entourage and In Treatment, Mark Wahlberg’s Closest to the Hole and manager Stephen Levinson’s Leverage production banners have finalized a deal with the premium net to bring the Martin Scorsese-helmed pilot for Boardwalk Empire to series. Scorsese will stay on board as a hands-on exec producer.

Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, Rise and Corruption of Atlantic City by Nelson JohnsonCreated by Sopranos alum Terence Winter, the period drama, based on Nelson Johnson’s book of the same name, is set during the early days of Prohibition in Atlantic City and revolves around the life of bigwig Nucky Thompson, who is described as “equal parts politician and gangster.” Steve Buscemi will star as Thompson. Co-stars include Michael Pitt, Kelly Macdonald, Michael Shannon, Shea Whigham, Dabney Coleman and Stephen Graham.

HBO has ordered 11 episodes of the series which is expected to begin production in the fall in NYC, with the premiere targeted for next year.

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The ‘Mad’ness Continues

 Mad Men on AMC

Don Draper is pouring a celebratory mid-day drink and lighting up a Lucky Strike after the news earlier today that AMC has renewed Mad Men for a fourth year after only three episodes into its third season. Showing ratings increase from its second season, healthy media exposure, continued critical acclaim and a slew of Emmy awards (its freshman year took home Best Drama, and is a front-runner to repeat this year) it was a no-brainer that the cabler would extend our time in the world of Sterling Cooper.

Last season, over 30 million viewers watched Mad Men on-air, on video-on-demand as well as on iTunes. The series continues to deliver the strongest concentration of upscale adults 25-54, more than any other original drama series on basic cable, and consistently ranks at the top of the iTunes TV charts.

FOXy Repeats

FringeCashing in on the powers of social networking juggernaut Twitter, FOX will be giving repeats a 21st century face-lift. Dubbed “tweet-peats” the network will be airing an encore presentation of last season’s penultimate episode of Fringe on Thursday, September 3rd at 9/8c with producers joining stars Joshua Jackson and John Noble. The following night at 9/8c they will re-air the Glee pilot, which had a preview screening in May after the American Idol season finale, with cast members Kevin McHale and Lea Michele among others.

The “tweet-peats” are being produced in coordination with Twitter; fans can sign up at Twitter.com/FRINGEonFOX and Twitter.com/GLEEonFOX to follow the event, and will be able to ask questions and reply to the cast and producers’ tweets, with select comments from the discussion carried live on FOX during East and West Coast airings.

GleeFOX is scheduling other special telecasts leading up to its fall season premieres. On Wednesday, September 2nd, the network will screen a “director’s cut” version of the Glee pilot, with never-before-seen deleted footage. The same night, to rev up viewers for the SYTYCD inaugural fall run, a special So You Think You Can Dance: The Fifteen Best Performances Ever showcasing top performances from the past five seasons.