Tag: TV writing deals

Today’s TV Writing Deals Dept: 10/11/12

“We do it for love. But that doesn’t mean we should turn down the money.” Old Writerly Saying

  • Joe Wiseman & Joe Port (NEW GIRL) have sold JOE & JOE & JANE, an autobiographical comedy, to NBC with a pilot production commitment. (Not going to say anything snarky or negative about this deal, nosirree, because Joe Wiseman is one of our favorite people…and a former student of Our Very Own LB.)
  • Gabe Sachs & Jeff Judah (90210) are writing a medical drama pilot about Army doctors working the late shift for NBC. (Not saying anything snarky or negative about this deal either, un-uh, even though we don’t know ’em, because we don’t want anybody to say we’re playing favorites)
  • BROAD CITY, a web series by Abbi Jacobson & Illana Glazer, has been given a pilot order by Comedy Central. (Further evidence, if anybody needs it, that web series are the way to go!)
  • Lena Dunham (GIRLS) has gotten what she wanted for her memoir/advice book – over $3,500,000. (Time to start the hating. Who wants to start?)
  • Ken Sanzel (NUMB3RS) is writing 2 drama pilots, GEN MISHIMA and HOOD for NBC. The first is an adaptation of a Chilean series (no, we aren’t going to comment – we swear), while the latter is a contemporary Robin Hood kind of thingie that NBC hopes will become the next PERSON OF INTEREST. (Note to NBC: That ain’t gonna happen without a writer-producer named Nolan. Just sayin’.)

Today’s TV Writing Deals Dept – 10/10/12

…And then there was the young actress who was so dumb (how dumb was she?) she screwed a writer.

  • Jon Robin Baitz (BROTHERS & SISTERS) is writing a limited run drama series based on the Australian series THE SLAP for NBC. (Although we doubt it’ll get on the air – no cops, no perps, no life or death; how can U.S. TV handle that?)
  • Neil Cross (LUTHER) is adapting The Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard into a 10 episode series for NBC. (Sorry but we can’t think of anything snarky to say about the guy who created LUTHER. Well, except that we thought his novel based on the show was, um, badly written. Guess TVWriter™ will have to run a review of it sometime.)
  • Chris McKenna (COMMUNITY, THE MINDY PROJECT) is writing a sitcom about a family of orphans being raised by their oldest brother, the black sheep, for NBC. (Can’t snark about this either because…orphans? black sheep brother? who even cares…?)
  • Michael Questa (HOMELAND) and Gerald Questa (his brother) are writing SECOND SIGHT an adaptation of a British series about a detective who goes blind, for CBS. (So much room for snark on this easy target that we’re just not going to go there. We need a challenge, you know?)
  • Chris Fedak (CHUCK) is adapting Scott Westerfeld’s Midnighters book trilogy for Fox (Hey, we liked CHUCK, so we’re happy to congratulate Chris on finally getting another gig. That isn’t snarky at all, right?)

Today’s TV Writing Deals Dept: 10/7/12

Old TV writing joke: “Know why TV writers brag about their deals? Cuz that’s all they have.” Think about it:

  • Tyler Perry (TYLER PERRY’s HOUSE OF PAYNE, MEET THE BROWNS) is writing and producing 2 new shows for OWN, in return for which he now has a very large ownership stake in the net. (Jeeze, nobody ever told us we had to buy our way into TV…and yet it definitely makes sense. Depressing sense, but sense.)
  • Douglas Segal (THREE KINGS) is writing a supernatural drama about a devil trying to save “compromised souls” for the CW. (Let that be a lesson to us all: No compromise! No surrender! Oh, that isn’t what it means?)
  • M. Night Shyamalan (THE SIXTH SENSE) & John Glenn (EAGLE EYE) are writing the pilot for LOST HORIZON for NBC. (Strangely, LOST HORIZON isn’t based on the book of the same name but on MOBY DICK. We figure somebody misread their high school reading list and still hasn’t been corrected.)
  • Ryan Murphy (GLEE, AMERICAN HORROR STORY, THE NEW NORMAL) is writing the pilot for MONTAUK, a conspiracy thriller, for Fox and an unnamed sitcom for NBC. (Yes, it’s true. We don’t even know this guy and we hate him. We really do. And if that isn’t the essence of showbiz, what is?)
  • Charley and Vlas Parlapanides (IMMORTALS) are writing THE CENTURIAN, about a Marine working with the angel of his best friend for CBS. (The way we hear it, the original pitch was about a Marine working with “the agent” of his best friend, but something got lost in the translation and who’s going to argue with a “Yes?”)
  • GIRLS creator Lena Dunham will be getting over $3,500,000 for her book of essays, Not That Kind of Girl, (because she’s got herself a very hot, in, and trendy series and why should she settle for less?)

Today’s TV Writing Deals Dept: 10/6/12

The rich get richer. Ain’t life grand?

  • Baz Luhrmann (MOULIN ROUGE, THE GREAT GATSBY) has signed a 2-year deal with Sony Pictures Television to develop TV projects. (This is a man who began his career as a playwright, then switched to directing Oscar-winning films. Will nothing stop his downward spiral?)
  • Jay Baruchel & Jesse Chabot (GOON) will co-write GOON 2. (We know this is a feature film and not TV. Just trying to raise the TVWriter™ tone a bit.)
  • Noah Haley (BONES, THE UNUSUALS) is writing the pilot for a TV series version of FARGO for the Coen Brothers (everything cool and funny that you’ve ever watched) and FX (which, evidently, wants to be cool and funny, which is, you know, cool in itself.)
  • 30 ROCK will be history soon, but Tina Fey will be hard at work at Universal Television for the next 4 years creating new projects (because, evidently, she really is the greedy bitch Alec Baldwin has claimed…and what’s not to love about that?)

More Love & Money: Recent TV Writing Deals

We’re back! (That was fast, huh?)

  • Seth MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin, and Wellesley Wild (TED, FAMILY GUY) are writing an untitled comedy pilot about a couple of guys whose fathers move in with them for Fox. (Talk about high concept! By which we mean Seth MacFarlane and not necessarily the idea.)
  • Ben Stiller (“Ben Stiller”) and Kevin Napier (THE STATION pilot for Fox) are writing PLEASE KNOCK, a comedy about a star just like, well, Ben Stiller, for ABC. (Hey, we identify with that hero very strongly. But you don’t? Really?)
  • Holly Sorenson (MAKE IT OR BREAK IT) is writing an untitled drama series for ABC about women working in the beauty industry. (Yes, we said “drama.” Proving that development execs have no idea what comedy is.)
  • NBC is developing an unnamed period crime drama centered around Thomas Edison, with an unnamed writer. (Proving that development execs have no idea what anything is.)