To be precise, it started yesterday, under the supervision of creator Mitch Hurwitz hisself, with the full original cast expected to participate in the Netflix produced/presented version of the Fox cult series. (Truly a cult fave. Not just words, those.)
Word is that Jason Bateman, Jeffrey Tambor, Portia de Rossi, David Cross, Jessica Walter, Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Alia Shawkat, and Tony Hale are all expected to have their new moments in the sun thanks to a concept that calls for each new episode to track one member of the Bluth family, with multiple family members showing up in special episodes.read article
You betcha! And, taken that way they’re one hell of a lot of fun. Although the writer below doesn’t say it in so many words, it’s clear that she gets it:
Emily S. Whitten: Marvel Movies: Are They Going Too Far?
I suppose we could call this a follow-up or at least sister piece to last week’s column, in which I interviewed the fantastic Cleolinda Jones, author of Movies in Fifteen Minutes, about her experiences with comic book movies. Cleo noted that she tends to be more interested in Marvel characters because “Marvel has been so much more pro-active about getting movies made and characters out there;” which is true. Let’s look at some numbers for live action comic book movies, just for kicks.read article
Dr. Dre looking as writerly as he can. Which isn’t very. Not that it matters because he’s for sure a kind, sensitive, gentle, and creative soul.
FX has signed Dr. Dre, known primarily as a rapper-record producer-record executive-entrepreneur, to develop a script for a one-hour drama. In this case “develop” doesn’t mean “write” because there’s already another writer involved, Sidney Quashie.
The circumstances here indicate that Quashie, who isn’t pictured here even though we like to highlight the writers in these deals whenever possible because we couldn’t find his pic on the web, didn’t have the pull to make this deal himself so he allied himself with Dr. Dre. We’re not saying this is fact, but it seems like a reasonable conjecture. After all, if Quashie did have what it takes his picture would probably be all over the web. (Because, children, that’s at least one of the things it takes.)
All we’ve been able to find out about the series is that it’s set in L.A. and is about music and gangsters. Here’s hoping everything gels and the show and its personnel make it through the development process and onto the air without ticking off any real gangsters.read article
Rand Ravich, this minute’s man of the hour (Huh? What did we say?)
Yes, it’s true. We’re feeling very cynical today, and it’s affected our reaction to news from NBC that they’ve bought an “untitled drama project” from Rand Ravich and Fox TV. Ravich was the creator-showrunner of the NBC series, LIFE, which limped through two undistinguished seasons before biting the dust…just when it was starting to get interesting to us, which probably explains why we aren’t running the network.
According to NBC, the series is an action thriller (can you have a thriller that doesn’t have action? Like, you know, a passive thriller?) about a Secret Service agent who ends up at the hub of international crisis on Day 1 of his gig and has to face the fact that ideals and reality don’t always go together, especially in Washington D.C.
Or something like that. Doesn’t matter. We’ve seen countless variations before. This is another show that will be all about the execution, starting with the tone, style, and structure of the pilot script. As of now, we’re assuming Ravich will be the writer, but we don’t know for sure. So if you’re interested it’s time to call your agent, manager, or well-connected (to NBC and/or Rand Ravich) lover and get your part of this show on the road.read article
Today we got word – from our P.R. friends at the BBC – that Jack Lothian is writing an episode of the Good Doctor’s Adventures. Lothian has written for such U.K. shows as SINBAD, BEAVER FALLS, SPOOKS, DOC MARTIN, and the Boss’s personal favorite, ASHES TO ASHES, so you know he’s one of the best.
Inspired by this bit of inspired writing casting, we looked around for info on more DOCTOR WHO writers and found a pretty good rundown by alex on a blog with this also, to us, inspirational name: A Beginners Guide to Free to Air TV.read article
