Tag: Krista Vernoff

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 12/8/12

Latest News About Writers Doing Better Than We Are

  • Liz Tigelaar (LIFE UNEXPECTED) is redoing her ABC drama pilot JONESES for Bravo. (A family with a secret moves to the burbs. Ooh!)
  • Krista Vernoff (GREY’S ANATOMY) is writing the pilot for RITA for Bravo, which will be adapted from a Danish drama series. (A teacher raises her teenage children while facing such vicissitudes as bureaucracy and overprotected parents at her schoo. Ooh, ooh!)
  • Michael Caleo (the upcoming MALAVITA) is writing a pilot for a rebooted version of IRONSIDE for NBC. (Genius cop in wheelchair torments his team by actings even jerkier than Dr. House while solving crimes. Oy!)
  • Alex Winter (actor in BILL AND TED, etc.) & Steven Pearl (?)  are writing the pilot for RIGHTS OF BILL for AMC. (Small town sheriff creates his own militia, becoming an outlaw while remaining a lawman. (Oy, oy!)

Sorry. We were working toward a punchline here with the “ooh” and “oy” thing, but it didn’t pan out because we couldn’t find our ending “Ahh.” Depressing, isn’t it? Hmm, wonder if instead of done deals we should write about the concepts that didn’t get sold? Like, you know, the good ones?

Today’s TV Writing Deals Dept: 10/8/12

Insert unappreciated writer joke here and move on to:

  • Krista Vernoff (GREY’S ANATOMY) is writing and producing a musical dramedy about a top songwriter specializing in love songs even though she’s unlucky in love for NBC. (Cuz the network knows we all want to watch shows about people doing better than we are. Or about people doing worse. Talk about covering all the bases.)
  • Kate Walsh (PRIVATE PRACTICE) & Chris Case (RETIRED AT 35) are co-writing what’s described as a “semi-autobiographical comedy for NBC…even though neither of them is a recently divorced father who falls in love with a cop who has little experience with kids. (Isn’t it fun watching TV destroy the value of language!?)
  • Alex Gansa & Howard Gordon (HOMELAND)have a deal for ANATOMY OF VIOLENCE, an FBI series, at CBS. (Based on a neurological study by Adrian Raine which, according to Amazon.Com, has nothing in common with the series except for the title…and attitude. (Time now to ponder what purpose words can possibly have after they lose all meaning.)
  • Hilary Winston (MY NAME IS EARL) is writing the pilot for BAD TEACHER, a sitcom adaptation of the not-so-successful feature that starred Cameron Diaz for CBS. (Figuring what? that without Cameron Diaz it might succeed?)
  • Nancy Miller (SAVING GRACE) is adapting the hit Mexican telenovela TERESA for ABC. (Because we all know anything original might be risky. (EDITED TO ADD: …even though SAVING GRACE was one of the best risks any network ever took.)

(ALSO EDITED TO ADD: Um, no, we didn’t mean that the joke wouldn’t be unappreciated but that it should be about writers who are unappreciated. Sheesh!)

Big Writer Deals!

TVWriter™ reads the trades so you won’t have to:

  • Mark Rizzo (THE MAN DATE, ZIP) is developing the film HEATHERS as a sitcom for Bravo.
  • Bret Easton Ellis (AMERICAN PSYCHO) is developing COPELAND PREP, a drama about teens at an overly competitive boarding school for (what else?) the CW.
  • Jessica Queller (GOSSIP GIRL, GILMORE GIRLS, FELICITY) is developing THE APARTMENT as a sitcom for Bravo.
  • Bill Daly (MIKE & MOLLY) has written the pilot for CONTINUING FRED, a sitcom about a slacker who finds her purpose in life as a teacher, for ABC Family.
  • Stu Zicherman (LIGHTS OUT, SIX DEGREES) is developing the drama THE DARLINGS for Bravo.
  • David H. Steinberg (AMERICAN PIE 2) is developing PHYS ED, a sitcom about a jock teaching at his old high school, for ABC Family.
  • Jenni Ross (hot on the showbiz writing “Black List”) is developing ALL AMERICAN GIRL as a drama for Bravo. (It’s about three women working at a women’s lifestyle mag, which spells “for chicks only” to us.)
  • Susana Fogel & Joni Lefkowitz (LIFE PARTNERS) have written the pilot for TERMINALES, a drama about a young woman’s life after she’s diagnosed with terminal illness, for ABC Family. (Talk about “for chicks only!”)
  • Krista Vernoff (SHAMELESS, GREY’S ANATOMY, PRIVATE PRACTICE) is developing RITA (based on a Danish TV series) for Bravo.
  • The CW has ordered a pilot script for EMBRACE, a BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER-type series to be written by Bill Laurin and Glenn Davis, based on a book by Jessica Shirvington.