Category: TV Writing Deals

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 11/16/13

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are

  • David Marshall Grant (SMASH ) has written the pilot for a new CBS drama series about an ex-GI cop who uses counter-insurgency tactics to try and control gang violence. (Ooh, waterboarding the Crips? Not smart, ex-GI hero dood. Not smart at all.)
  • Peter Murrieta (WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE) is writing the pilot for an unnamed NBC comedy pilot about a stand-up comedian we’ve never heard of. (“About” as in based on his life and act, and starring him. How interested in the lives of stand-up comedians are you, really? We admit that when it comes to that particular subject we’re in the negative zone.)
  • Owen Ellickson (THE OFFICE) is adapting a non-fiction book by Bruce Feiler for a CBS comedy pilot called SECRETS OF HAPPY FAMILIES. (Ooh, isn’t that the clever title? Can’tcha just taste that delicious irony oozing off the printed page and coating our big screen TVs with…you know.)
  • Dan Lagana (ZACH STONE IS GONNA BE FAMOUS) is writing the pilot for another CBS comedy pilot, this one about a newly married couple who are raising both a toddler and a teen. (Simultaneously! Wowza! That’s gonna send the CBS demographic spinning – dizzily, we imagine. )
  • Seth MacFarlane (well-known smug asshat who used to be funny) has sold BORDERTOWN, a new animated series, to Fox. (This one’s supposed to be “a satirical look at America’s cultural shifts through the evolving relationship” between a border patrol agent and his Mexican immigrant neighbor. (Hmm, we’re seriously tempted to start a pool to see who picks the exact date the first irate viewer publicly calls for MacFarlane to be lynched. Any takers?)

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 11/15/13

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are

  • Dan Gregor & Doug Mand (HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER ) are developing an untitled NBC comedy about a couple of guys who strike it rich after creating a big deal mobile app. (Which reminds us, somehow, about a certain old saying: The devil is in the details. Think this particular detail will actually, um, mean anything?)
  • Peter Murrieta (WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE) is writing the pilot for an unnamed NBC comedy pilot about a stand-up comedian we’ve never heard of. (“About” as in based on his life and act, and starring him. How interested in the lives of stand-up comedians are you, really? We admit that when it comes to that particular subject we’re in the negative zone.)
  • Elle Triedman (REVENGE) is writing the Lifetime pilot, BLACKOUT (which appears to be a nighttime soap about way more bogus tragedy than we have the space – or inclination – to even mention here.)
  • Kristen Schaal & Rich Blomquist (THE DAILY SHOW) are developing the comedy AMERICAN MONSTER for ABC. (And if it’s anywhere near as funny as THE DAILY SHOW we’ll be thrilled…and, yeppers, surprised.)
  • Collette Burson (HUNG) is teaming with somebody named Anne Heche to write an NBC comedy pilot about a couple of funny people doing funny things. (Sorry, but we lost interest when we saw that Heche was now a writer and then went on to delete the e-mail announcement the second time the word “hilariously” appeared in it. Oh those crazy, zany, pushy PR folks.)
  • Rob Thomas & Diane Ruggiero (VERONICA MARS) are writing a drama called iZOMBIE for The CW, based on – oh, you guessed it – yet another DC Comics property. (Cuz the world’s been holding its breath waiting for another zombie series, right? Except the zombies. They don’t hold their breaths cuz they don’t breathe. Or do they? Time to visit our obviously-a-zombie next door neighbor and see if we can both find out…and get outta there alive.)

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 11/14/13

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are

  • Steve Carell (Um, remember when “ubiquitous” was the interweb word? ) is writing TRIBECCA, a satirical police show, for TBS. (This would be good news except that he’s partnering with his wife, Nancy Carell, and brilliant though she may be, LB has taught us to always be concerned when husbands and wives work together. Cuz divorce, you know, ruins everything.)
  • Robert Borden (THE GEORGE LOPEZ SHOW) is writing the pilot for a soon-to-be-named comedy about, um, old guys. (Specifically, it’s about former basketball teammates in their 60s, so expect a lot of kvetching about their bodies instead of stories about how they deal with new and interesting situations. Which is our way of admitting: We miss THE GOLDEN GIRLS!)
  • Peter Ocko (FAIRLY LEGAL) is developing BALL AND CHAIN, a novel about ex intelligence ops with screwed up personal lives, for Fox. (Um, has anybody ever ever thought spies, ex or current, would have terrific personal lives? Yeah, we thought so.)
  • Andrew Gurland & Justin Hurwitz (THE GABRIELS) are writing a Fox comedy pilot about Justin’s life. (We know, we know, you’ve never heard of him. But just you wait. He’s led a damned interesting life. Really, we swear. Or he swears. Or Fox swears. Somebody does anyway)
  • Andrew Leeds & David Lampson (failed pilot BRENDA FOREVER) are writing POOR PAM, an ABC pilot about “that friend everyone feels bad for. (Hmm, it’s new, it’s different, we could love it – but – OMG, it’s being produced by Kelly Ripa and her husband, Whatisname. There goes that one down the, erm, drain.)
  • Bruce McCulloch (THE KIDS IN THE HALL) is writing a Fox comedy pilot without a name about a mother “at the top of her professional career” who “clashes with her stay-at-home pregnant daughter.” (Which one of those two lovable characters are you gonna root for? Let’s face it, we grew up with a stay-at-home mother and our childhoods were awesome.)

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 11/13/13

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are

We’re in the mood for a little game play today. Today’s game is “Should They or Shouldn’t They?” What? You don’t think you know that one? Ah, sure you do:

  • Jaime Paglia (EUREKA), is developing POMONA KINGS, a drama about two rival families in the world of drag racing whose children fall in love with each other, for Fox. (OMG! Romeo and Juliet with drag racing. In Pomona California? Sorry, Fox D-execs, this is a plain and clear “You Shouldn’t.”)
  • A.D. Miles (LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON) will be head writer on THE TONIGHT SHOW when Jimmy takes over from that guy with the chin. (This is a no-brainer. A.D. Miles really knows his stuff, as Fallon’s show has demonstrated consistently. Way to go, NBC execs, cuz you bet “You Should.”)
  • Ben York Jones (BREATHE IN, whatever that is) & Michal Mohan (SAVE THE DATE, huh?) are developing HEARTBEATS, a half-hour dramedy for Starz about star-crossed lovers. (Definitely a “Shouldn’t.” But then, everything on Starz is as far as we’re concerned. The Starz D-execs seem dedicated to one thing: Breaking viewers hearts while calling it entertainment.)
  • Soo Hugh (UNDER THE DOME) is writing the pilot for an ABC drama about a group of aliens “out to destroy the Earth.” (Info on this one is sketchy. To us, if it’s literally about the aliens – as in they’re the protagonists – this would be an awesome “Should.” But if it’s just another version of V, meh.)
  • Ayelet Waldman (APPLEBAUM, a 2012 CBS pilot) is writing the pilot for the CBS pilot THE ADVOCATE, about a former doctor who now works as a medical advocate, whatever the hell that is. (We thought all doctors were supposed to be their patients’ “medical advocates.” So the question becomes is this really just another medical show not-so-cleverly disguised, or is it genuinely something new? If the former, we’d vote “Shouldn’t.” If the latter, this could be a “Should.”)
  • The History Channel is searching for a writer to reboot the classic TV mini-series, ROOTS, re-adapting it from Alex Haley’s hugely successful novel. (Normally we’d be encouraging everybody to go for the gig, but this ROOTS, which won 9  1977 Emmys and is considered a classic. The head writer back then was the glorious William Blinn, our boss, Larry Brody’s, first real mentor in the biz. We honestly don’t see how History could hope to do better. In other words, there’s no “maybe” in our vote on this one: The most definite of “Shouldn’t”x.)

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 11/12/13

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are

  • Mike Barker (AMERICAN DAD), co-creator of said animated masterpiece, has left his gig as co-showrunner of that self same masterpiece. His partner, Matt Weitzman, remains on duty on the show. So if you know Matt and think you should replace Mike, now’s the time to get in touch. (No, we don’t know him, but we’re at least a couple of degrees in Matt’s direction. His late father, Lew Weitzman, was LB’s agent for a zillion years, and his twin brother, Paul Weitzman currently is one of H’wood’s Top Agent Dawgs and was a popular speaker at Brodystock back in the day. Hi, Paul!)
  • Diane English (MURPHY BROWN) is writing the pilot for an NBC series that has no name, no concept, and potential stars we’ve never heard of. (In other words, Diane’s the real star here. Wonder what they’ve given her to make her come back to work after making such a huge pile of $$$ from MURPH’s success. We’re all of us in the audience the better for it, that’s for sure.)
  • Mac Lethal (um, a rapper with a blog) has sold the rights to a TV adaptation to said blog AKA TEXTS FROM BENNETT to FX. Randall Einhorn (WILFRED) is writing the pilot. (So we know it’ll be totally unorthodox and funny if it ever hits the air. What we don’t know, of course, is whether Mac and Randall will be able to stand each other long enough for such an occurrence.)
  • Michael Caleo (IRONSIDE) is writing the pilot for a TV version of DC Comics’ HOURMAN. (For The CW, natch. So you know exactly what to expect. Wonder how they’ll handle the fact that they’ve already given the character’s traditional costume to their version of Green Arrow.)
  • Novelist Patricia Cornwall (the Kay Scarpetta book series) & Stephanie Sengupta (LAW & ORDER), are co-creating a crime drama for ABC about a “young, orphaned, highly skilled female cop who has an uncanny ability to solve crime. (To which all we can say is, “Whoa! Uncanny!” and resolve to make “uncanny” our Personal Word of the Day.)
  • In case you haven’t heard, the uncanny Neil Gaiman (um, a bunch a cult stuff) is writing a special DOCTOR WHO short story which will be published as part of the BBC’s uncanny series of ebooks about the Doc. (We’re really looking forward to this one cuz we know that at the very least it’ll be fucking…uncanny!)