This just in from Hollywood Reporter.Com:
Stephen Merchant Pilot Gets Series Order at HBO – by Michael O’Connell
Stephen Merchant is stayin in business with HBO.
Category: News
Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 11/3/12
“All’s fair in love and showbiz.” (Anon.)
- Greg Malin (FRIENDS) is writing the pilot for the ABC sitcom TRIBES, adapted from the Israeli series, YOUR FAMILY OR MINE. (Proving that HOMELAND definitely has started an Israeli trend.)
- Jordan Nardino (DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES) is writing the pilot for an untitled Fox comedy based on LifestyleLemonade.Com, a blog by Nikki Joel about her marriage to a WME agent who will go unnamed here because we like to pretend agents aren’t real/don’t actually exist. (Proving that even showbiz reality is a dreamworld.)
- Nicholas Sparks (THE NOTEBOOK, DEAR JOHN) has TV deals for not one, not two, but three of his novels. Brandon Camp (LOVE HAPPENS) is adapting A BEND IN THE ROAD for TNT, John Norris (ONE TREE HILL) & Sparks are adapting THE FALLS for ABC Family, and Melissa Carter (JANE BY DESIGN)is writing DELIVERANCE CREEK for Lifetime. (Proving that if you have something that’s been done before, somewhere, TV will buy it…so get your Kindle books cracking!)
- Michael Tolkin (DEEP IMPACT, THE PLAYER) is writing HOLLYWOOD & VINES, a series about a Hollywood family and its reaction to a star’s death, for ABC. (The fact that it was bought because “ABC is looking for its next REVENGE,” according to the H’wood Reporter proving again that, in TV, the concept that “If we can’t buy something that’s already succeeded we can at least copy it” still rules.)
Looking for a Showrunner Gig? Try AMC
…Not because they necessarily will be sympathetic to newbies, but because they’re in trouble, Young Jedi, so, hey, it couldn’t hurt:
‘Hell on Wheels’ on Hold as AMC Searches for New Showrunner – by Lesley Goldberg (Hollywood Reporter)
AMC’s third-season renewal for Hell on Wheels is on hold.
Another Monty Pythoner Shows His Utmost Respect for Graham Chapman
Awhile ago, John Cleese talked about his former MONTY PYTHON mate. Now Terry Jones has a few words on the same subject. These dudes are so @#$!ing sweet, you know?
Monty Python’s Terry Jones on Graham Chapman’s Biopic – by Steve Marsh
When the five surviving members of Monty Python are photographed nowadays, there’s always a witty allusion to the dead one: an upturned urn or a disembodied pipe. So it’s no surprise that when an old recording of Graham Chapman reading his 1986 memoir A Liar’s Autobiography was discovered, a project came together nearly as quickly as it takes to ask “What’s all this, then? Are they going to make a 2Pac hologram of Police Constable Pan Am?” Chapman’s recording became the basis for A Liar’s Autobiography, a surreal new animated movie (in select theaters and on EPIX on November 2), to which the surviving Pythons (except for Eric Idle) contributed their voices. We talked to original Python Terry Jones about Chapman’s drinking, his mum’s influence, and Terry Gilliam’s bossiness.
TV Writing Isn’t as Easy as It Looks
Nor is it always fun.
PASSINGS: Alan Kirschenbaum (L.A. Times)
Alan Kirschenbaum, a TV producer and comedy writer who worked on shows including ‘Raising Hope,’ ‘My Name is Earl’ and ‘Yes, Dear,’ dies at 51.
Alan Kirschenbaum, 51, a television producer and comedy writer who worked on such shows as“Raising Hope,”“My Name is Earl” and “Yes, Dear,” which he co-created, was found dead Friday at his Burbank home.
Early reports indicate he may have committed suicide, according to a spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner’s office. No other details were released. An autopsy is pending.