Ryan Murphy, the genius behind the short-lived but always brilliant POPULAR and that other show you may have heard of, NIP/TUCK has a series committment from FOX for his new show QUEEN B.
The network has handed out a series commitment to “Queen B,” a female workplace drama from “Nip/Tuck” creator/executive producer Ryan Murphy.
The project, which Murphy co-created with “Nip/Tuck” executive producers Richard Levine and Lyn Greene, is being produced by 20th Century Fox TV. It stems from the rich multiyear deal Murphy inked this year with FX, 20th TV and Fox (HR 2/16).
“Queen B” is described as a modern-day workplace drama that breaks the glass ceiling, creating a world where women call the shots. It centers on a brilliant but ruthless woman who takes over a worldwide conglomerate as a CEO and corrupts a young girl with power by making her the exec’s right-hand henchwoman.
“Heroes: Origins” is beefing up its creative roster with top behind-the-scenes talent.
“Superman Returns” co-writer Michael Dougherty and “Hostel” writer-director Eli Roth each have been tapped to write an episode of the anthology spinoff from NBC’s hit sci-fi series.
Roth also will direct his episode of the series, which introduces new characters as they discover their extraordinary powers.
Roth and Dougherty, both “Heroes” fans, join another big supporter of the show, Kevin Smith, who also is set to write and direct an episode of the Universal Media Studios-produced “Heroes: Origins.”
Dougherty, who also co-wrote “X2,” recently made his directorial debut with the upcoming Warner Bros./Legendary Pictures horror movie “Trick ‘r Treat,” which he also wrote.
If FX keeps developing shows that sound more intersting than what the big networks are presenting, I may have to stop watching their parent channel Fox. This just in, Variety is reporting that FX has gone into development on a show called PARANOID.
FX is developing “Paranoid,” an edgy thriller with themes of privacy and spying, from “Fight Club” scribe Jim Uhls. The series is described as a modern-day “Parallax View,” centering on a surveillance agent who himself may be spied upon, all set against Patriot Act-America.
Sources say a pilot deal is likely but has not officially been ordered. “Paranoid” has had a long history, with a number of cable execs privately praising the script for months but also saying it was too dark to put on the air; in one scene, for instance, a man rips open his skin searching for an embedded surveillance device.
Not to be confused with something that male sexual ailment, NBC has signed a pilot developement deal for a new cop drama/memoire called BLUE BLOOD based on Edward Conlon’s autobiography.
Director Brett Ratner is taking his latest TV project to NBC.
The “Rush Hour 3″ helmer will executive produce a cop show called “Blue Blood” for the network. He’s also in line to direct the pilot, which was written by Neil Tolkin and which NBC has greenlit for production this fall, the showbiz trade papers report. “Blue Blood” is based on a memoir by Edward Conlon, a Harvard-educated New York police officer who wrote about his experiences on the beat for The New Yorker. It will focus on a group of NYPD rookies assigned to street patrols.
The project was initially set up at FOX, but the network passed on it. After a few changes to the script, Tolkin and Ratner took the show to NBC. The pilot is Tolkin’s first stab at a TV series; his film credits include “The Emperor’s Club” and “License to Drive.”
I tend to love me some BRAVO reality shows so this might work for me as well. SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE is my fave, DANCELIFE was wonderful but I hate that damn Dancing with the Stars. Let’s hope STEP IT UP will be more SYTYCD than DwtS.
Per Hollywood Reporter:
Bravo has greenlighted a new dance reality competition series from the producers of its top-rated series “Project Runway” and “Top Chef.”
“Step It Up,” from Magical Elves producers Jane Lipsitz and Dan Cutforth, will feature contestants from around the country trying to master a range of dance styles, “from ballet and ballroom to Broadway and burlesque,” the network said.
Episodes will feature challenges in which the dancers audition for a range of parts, with contestants being eliminated until there is one final dancer, who will win a cash prize.
” ‘Step It Up’ pulls back the curtain on one of the most lively arts and one of America’s favorite pastimes — dance,” said Frances Berwick, executive vp programming and production at Bravo. “Like other creative professions, dance inherently has all the ingredients of competition and drama that make Bravo shows so compelling to watch.”
The show was created by Gunnar Wetterberg for Magical Elves. The debut date and number of episodes have yet to be determined.
Jason Katims has joined the creative team at BIONIC WOMAN. Ausiello has the scoop, but in general, the Roswell creator and Friday Night Lights Executive Producer will be working his magic as a consulting producer for the possibly ailing NBC reboot.
I wonder if Isaiah Washington will grill Katims about Katherine Heigl’s mouth from back in the day.
**Update: I know that The CW has announced their new fall lineup but I need a few to mourn the death of the incredibly smart, incredibly witty, and ever great VERONICA MARS which was canceled. I need a little bit to not hate The CW and then I will be back with their new lineup which thankfully still has those Winchesters. Dawn Ostroff is a CUNextTuesday.
The CW will be announcing their lineup today and folks, there are a couple tidbits that TVGuide are already reporting.
The first being that Kristen Bell might be narrating Josh Schwartz’s new show GOSSIP GIRL (post ANTM). Sounds good to me, but I hope they don’t have the balls to ask her to narrate a new show when they might not renew her own show.
Top Model will remain on Tuesday’s at 8pm, SUPERNATURAL will remain on Thursdays at 9pm after Smallville. On Wednesday, it looks like Beauty and the Geek will be back (how and why I do not know).
Reaper will follow Beauty and the Geek which means Veronica Mars goes where?
This is pretty funny. Gotta love ELLEN and her willingness to just call network brass. Kate Walsh couldn’t be prettier, funnier, and more enamored with the prospects of her own show. Kudos to Steve McPherson for being such a cool guy for dealing with all this!
ABC just announced their lineup and so far, it’s about on par with NBC. A mix of old and new. Do I watch ABC that much? I couldn’t remember but I guess I don’t?
I’ve got LOST (coming back on Winter 2008), Grey’s, and Brothers & Sisters so really ABC could stand to gain me as a more frequent viewer. With the addition of Pushing Daisies and Private Practice, they’re on the right track.
Here’s the Fall/Winter Schedule on ABC
* = new show
MONDAY
8-9 pm Dancing With the Stars
9-9:30 pm Miss/Guided* (???)
9:30-10 pm Sam I Am*
10-11 pm The Bachelor
TUESDAY
8-8:30 pm Caveman*
8:30-9 pm Carpoolers*
9-10 pm Dancing Results Show
10-11 pm Boston Legal
*Post-Fall Shows to debut and renewals: Cashmere Mafia*, Notes from the Underbelly, October Road and obviously LOST will have it’s 16 week uninterrupted season in the spring.
The ones I’m most interested in are:
PUSHING DAISIES
Lee Pace is amazing and its about time he found a vehicle for his abilities. I’ve loved him since playing a transgendered person in SOLDIER’S GIRL. Then, HELLO, Wonderfalls? I heart Lee Pace. Swoosie Kurtz as well? I love her. This is being pumped as The Next Big Thing. This is the Heroes for next fall. Speaking of Heroes, I think that Audrey/Sylar’s Mother is in this as well! Lee Pace, dreamboat…
PRIVATE PRACTICE
Addison, Piz and those Abs? I’m there with fingers crossed that I can stop watching Grey’s if this is good enough! You go Kate Walsh breaking away and getting your own gig. I only wish it didn’t have the title it has. Private Practice sounds so pedestrian and medically. What else would it have been called? Oceanside Wellness Clinic? Okay, so maybe Private Practice isn’t all that bad.
As for the rest, I’m not sure. I’m very interested in Sam I Am because I love Christina Applegate and Jean Smart. Women’s Murder Club interests me because of Laura Harris and I’ve been down with her since FIFTEEN! But really, this show’s gonna go nowhere with show killer Angie Harmon. Cashmere Mafia because women like Lucy Liu and Frances O’Connor kick ass. Lastly, Dirty Sexy Money is also of interest because let’s face it… Peter Krause is amazing and there’s a Baldwin in it.
The buzz is beginning to circulate that Fox will be picking up the pilot for the Parker Posey fronted THE RETURN OF JEZEBEL JAMES which is created by Gilmore Girls defector Amy Sherman-Palladino.
I love me some Parker Posey, always have and always will. Going all the way back to Dazed and Confused where she was the icy bitch senior screaming “AIR RAID” to the watched 4000 times Party Girl to Daytrippers, House of Yes, and any and everything in between. Parker Posey is a goddess!
A couple months ago when it was announced that ASP would be doing Jezebel and that Posey would be starring, I thought I’d piss myself. Not only is that an amazing dream team but on a sad note that probably meant she couldn’t come to our film festival’s opening night which was her new film FAY GRIM.
In honor of the good news that Jezebel will more than likely be on the docket for Fall, here is a fun article from today’s Boston Globe featuring Parker. Here’s a sneak peek:
“[Television] is where the good writing is now,” Posey said. “A lot of movies don’t write characters. On ‘Boston Legal’ with James Spader, he was like, ‘How many of these independent movies can you do? You work so hard on them and then no one sees them and you don’t get paid anything and you’re exhausted.’ He approached his work in ‘Boston Legal’ like, ‘This is an opportunity for me as an actor to work on good material and bring everything I can to the part.’ I loved watching the crew in between takes. They were so efficient and so on it. Everyone’s enjoying their job and not working crazy hours and it seems so much more stable. So I enjoyed it. So we’ll see if this pilot happens.”
Fingers crossed that on Wednesday, FOX will officially give The Return of Jezebel James two thumbs up.
TVGuide is reporting that LOST star Matthew Fox is joining the increasingly great cast of the live action adaptation of SPEED RACER! It’s about time Matthew Fox gets his due! He’s had one hell of an Emmy year and people need to be recognizing…
Here he comes, here comes speed racer, he’s a demon on wheels! Go Go Speed, Go Go Go Go Speed, Go Go Go Go Speed, Goooooooooooooooo!
I love the idea of Charlie Salinger/Jack Shephard Matthew Fox playing the uber-villian Racer X, Speed’s nemesis and brother.
It was announced earlier in the week that Christina Ricci just joined as Speed’s chipper girlfriend Trixie (here’s to hoping she can master that laugh!). Fox and Ricci join Emile Hirsch as Speed, John Goodman and Susan Sarandon as his parents. Speed Racer is being directed by The Wachoski Brothers (Matrix, V for Vendetta, and Bound).
TVGuide is reporting that Sci-Fi has greenlit a 2 hour made for television film of Battlestar Galactica. They claim it will have the entire cast involved, but no plot has been revealed yet. Will it follow the current storyline? Will it introduce the spin-off Caprica? Will it explain what happened to Starbuck? Will it involve the whole Adama clan including the dead brother? Will it involve the Final Five Cylons? I can’t stand the possibilities.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Dawson Leery has been cast in the Americanized version of BBC’s Footballers Wives, called Football Wives! You know this show is going to be over the top craptastic and I for one think that The Beek is up for it!
He’s supposedly been cast as a rookie footballer. If they are following the pattern of the BBC show at all I really hope that he’s Darius, the rapist! James Van Der Beek being a bad ass and having sex in Rules of Attraction was pretty hot so more scenes with a dark twisted Beek are what I’m all about.
**NEW UPDATE: It’s confirmed! Chris Lowell has been cast in the two hour episode/spin-off starter of Grey’s Anatomy. Yea, yippie!
UPDATE: I posted this a couple hours ago and since then the posting that I saw which was on Michael Ausiello’s “Ausiello Report” page is missing. I swear to you I was not making this up. My friends over at SPILL also saw it so they can vouch for me. Huh. What the hell does this mean? Did he post it too soon? Was it not valid information? Enquiring Minds Want To Know!!!
The possible cast of the possible Grey’s Anatomyspin-off featuring Addison keeps growing and growing. The Newest Casting Buzz? According to Ausiello, PIZ (Chris Lowell) from Veronica Mars has joined the cast! Does that mean no more Pizonica?
Lowell’s casting makes this the third casting announcement this week. First was Tim Daly (boooooooo), next was Prison Break’s baddie Paul Adelstein (Agent Kellerman) and now Piz. This cast is getting out of control. I can only hope Shonda can live up to all the hype.
TVGuide.com: Can you explain the audition process? I know it’s much more involved than how it looks on TV.
Murphy: When we first see them, they only get 30 seconds, and it doesn’t matter what kind of dancer you are — Latin dancer, ballet, tap, it won’t matter — you’re going to have to show us your stuff to [our chosen] music. If we like you in those first 30 seconds, then we call you back to see what you do to your own [choice of] music. The good news is [we] don’t change [our] song, so the first 75 kids who are brought into the room all hear it, as we bring 10 up on the stage at a time. Sometimes people don’t even make it through the first line of producers to see us. Last year, [runner-up] Travis didn’t make it out of the L.A. auditions, but he flew to South Carolina because he wasn’t taking no for an answer. He knew if he could get in front of us, we would see that he could dance.
My BF Travis Wall was initially denied? WHA-WHA-WHAT? Unbelievable. How dare they!
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