Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 12/17/13

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are

  • Mike Kelly (REVENGE) has a new overall deal with HBO after being fired from REVENGE, which has had declining ratings. (Proving that he’s a heck of a good guy in the room, no? We mean as well as being a brilliant writer who isn’t necessarily in tune with audience desires…which pretty much describes exactly what HBO is all about, which, FTR, we do not think is a bad thing.)
  • Alex Taub (DROP DEAD DIVA) is adapting Carl Hiaasen’s novel, Basket Case, into a drama series for Spike TV. (Carl Hiaassen! On TV! Finally! TVWriter™ congratulates Spike TV for finally moving in a direction we approve of. And you know how important our congratulations – and approval – are, don’tcha? Yeah, we’re afraid we know the true answer to that too. Sigh…)
  • Sam Ernst & Jim Dunn (HAVEN) are adapting Stephen King’s short story “New York Times at Bargain Rates” into a series for ABC. (How good will this be? We figure that’s in inverse proportion to Mr. King’s active participation. Hey, we love the guy’s writing, but every time he pokes his verbiage into the screen versions…)
  • Patrick Moss & Jeremy Anderson (GREAT EXPECTATIONS) are writing KING DAVID, a to-be-syndicated series featuring a take that’s likely to raise hella hackles among Bible fans. (What? You don’t think anybody will object to what the PR is describing as “a mafia show in biblical clothing?” What planet are you on?)
  • Lizzy Weiss (SWITCHED AT BIRTH) is developing INTO THIN AIR, a so-called “family drama,” for ABC family. (Just in case you still thought ABC family was really for, you know, families, this is further described as having “thriller elements.” Just what you want to sit down with your kids to watch, right?)

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 10/12/12

For those of us who want the vicarious thrill of being in-demand:

  • Stacy Traub (GLEE) has a pilot deal with Fox for DIRTY BLONDES, starring Angela Kinsey and Rachael Harris (who we’re supposed to know for some reason, but how can they be stars if we have to google ’em to find out who they are?)
  • Abby Kohn &Mark Silverstein (THE VOW)) are adapting Adulting: How to Become a Grown-Up in 387 Easy Steps by Kelly Williams Brown into a sitcom for Fox. (Um, no, we never heard of THE VOW either, but J.J. Abrams is producing that explains that.)
  • Jeremy Anderson & Patrick Moss (sorry, can’t find any credits for these guys anywhere) are writing a pilot for yet another soapy series based on Great Expectations at ABC. (Dickens? Pip? Again? Now you know why we aren’t knocking ourselves finding out molre about the writers. They’re gonna phone it in anyway.)
  • Lauren Bachelis (nope, no credits here either) is adapting her blog Hollywood Assistants into a sitcom, 20-NOTHINGS, for CBS. (Yay, beginning writers who leapfrog over me! Not.)
  • Uma Thurman is joining the cast of Lars Von Trier’s film, NYMPHOMANIAC. (No, she isn’t a writer. No, this isn’t even happening in television. But we’re so thrilled to find the name of somebody we recognize doing something show-bizzy somewhere that we just had to share. What? No, Lindsay Lohan’s latest fight with her mother absolutely does not count.)