Mr. Show with Pajiba and Godtopus
The Daily Trade Round-Up / The TV Whore
Mar. 26, 2008
Trade News | March 26, 2008 | Comments (77)
Hot diggity. HBO has greenlit a new pilot from Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, two funny bastards who were on HBO back in the day with the fantastic “Mr. Show.” The current title of the show is “David’s Situation,” and it features Cross playing himself, only he’s quit showbiz and is living in a gated community with some roommates while working for an inflight magazine. The show will be structured like a regular sitcom, complete with commercials … only they’ll be fake commercials. And while I’m not sold on the show itself, necessarily, the fake commercials certainly smell like they could rekindle some of the “Mr. Show” magic, so color me excited (assuming HBO picks up the series after the pilot is shot in May).
In other good greenlight news, the Sci Fi Channel has finally given the go ahead to “Caprica,” the prequel to “Battlestar Galactica.” “Caprica” will be a two-hour backdoor pilot and, if it fares well upon airing, the network would then give it a series order. For those who don’t remember, the show will be set on the planet Caprica about 50 years before the current series, and will focus on two families (one being the Adamas) who are at odds with each other. And speaking of “Battlestar,” it’s been confirmed that the last season will definitely be split into two batches of 10 episodes, since the writers’ strike halted production during episode eleven. The first batch, as you know, starts airing on April 4. No word yet on when the second batch will air, but it could be this fall or even as motherfucking late as next January. Feh. But in the meantime, if the following little promo doesn’t have you excited for the upcoming season, you just might be a Cylon (and DVD Folk should not click play, lest they be spoiled about the Season Three finale reveals):
In still more pilot news, I’m increasingly intrigued by Showtime’s “United States of Tara.” It’s produced by Steven Spielberg, written by Diablo Cody, and directed by Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl). Best of all, it stars Toni Collete as a woman with multiple personality disorder. And now, John Corbett has signed on as Tara’s husband, and hopefully this role will wash the taste of “Sex and the City” out of his hair, and remind us of his great turn on “Northern Exposure.” Geena Davis has also earned herself a pilot, as CBS has given the go-ahead to “Exit 19.” And since it’s CBS, your guess that this is a police drama is absolutely correct. But “My Best Friend’s Girl” is not a drama — rather, the CBS pilot is a half-hour comedy starring Jennie Garth, and it’s about two friends who own a bike shop and then one of them starts dating the other’s ex-wife (Garth) and then the laughs, oh the laughs, they come a-flying. Sadly, I suppose this means Garth could be unavailable for to star in the CW’s “Beverly Hills 90210 2008.”
CBS has also given the go to two other pilots which also leave a bit to be desired. The first, “Meant to Be’s,” is a romantic drama starring Amy Smart as a recently-in-love gallery owner who plummets to her death and must help others find love to eventually get herself into heaven. Even though she’s relatively bland, I’ve always sorta dug Amy Smart but … well … there is no way in hell you’ll get me to sit through this pilot. None. Zilch. Nada. As for the other CBS pilot? “White Millionaire” is a sitcom starring Fred Savage as a young millionaire looking for a lady love. … Moving on.
While lots of shows are getting little breaths of life, others are … uhm … not. David Eick has basically confirmed what we all knew already, that “Bionic Woman” will not return. And last night’s episode of “Jericho” was, in fact, the series finale, as no nuts will give the show a third season (but at least the producers had the good sense to film two endings, so they were able to end the show without leaving it hanging on a cliffhanger, as long as you don’t count “the next American Civil War” as a cliffhanger). And it’s a quick three-and-done for “The Return of Jezebel James,” which … uhm … won’t be returning. Hold your shock, people, hold it.
Speaking of the impending fall season, NBC has made an interesting move — it’s not going to wait until the mid-May upfronts to unveil its new fall lineup. Instead, it’s throwing a big press conference next week where it will unveil the details of its new 52-week schedule. So it should be interesting to see what the Peacock has in store for us all although, it should go without saying, we likely won’t be excited by much of what we see.
A quick note of sadness before I wrap up over the fact that one of my favorite TV crushes, Diane Farr, will apparently be leaving “Numb3rs” this season. Like the Indian of commercial lore, I shed one lone tear.
And now, with a grateful thanks to some of the folks in the comment thread to last week’s round-up, I am incredibly excited to present ya’ll with Tufty Club:
And lastly, just because I love James Franco (his expression at the 2:52 mark makes me laugh so hard that I kinda want to have his babies):
Seth Freilich is Pajiba’s television editor. Not that he could have Franco’s, or anyone else’s, babies. He’s just saying.
Comments
Posted by: Dangle McGee at March 26, 2008 8:27 AM
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White Millionaire?? Really? That's the name they decided would really pull people in? Cinnamonfirehell.
The rest of the news just makes me feel better about my choice to avoid new things on network television. Still really only interested in new episodes of The Office.