In the Trades Today

Goodbye to Gilmore Girls

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Word has hit the trades that GILMORE GIRLS writer/creator/showrunner Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband Dan are leaving the show.

"Despite our best efforts to return and ensure the future of Gilmore Girls
for years to come, we were unable to reach an agreement with the studio
and are therefore leaving when our contracts expire at the end of this
season," said Amy and Dan in a statement. "Our heartfelt thanks go out
to our amazing cast, hard-working crew and loyal fans. We know that the
story lines from this season will continue into the next, and that the
integrity of the show will remain long after we leave Stars Hollow."

According to a statement released by Warner Bros., "While we are
disappointed that Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino have decided
not to stay with the show next season, we are very confident that Dave
Rosenthal, an experienced writer/producer with the show, will make the
transition seamless moving into the seventh year of Gilmore Girls.
We want to thank Amy for creating and nurturing this wonderful series
for the past six years and giving us one of the most memorable
mother/daughter relationships in television history."

Good News For TV Writers

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The California State Supreme Court threw out a lawsuit by a writer’s assistant against the writers  and producers of FRIENDS. The assistant charged that the sexually explicit jokes and anecdotes shared among the writers in the writer’s room created a "hostile work environment." (You can read the full text of the decision here)

Because "Friends" was an "adult-oriented comedy show featuring sexual
themes," Lyle should have expected coarse language from writers producing jokes
and scripts for the show, the Supreme Court held in its ruling.

While the Fair Employment and Housing Act prohibits conduct that creates a
hostile or abusive workplace for women, it does not outlaw "sexually coarse and
vulgar language that merely offends," the high court said.

The case raised questions of how far TV comedy writers can go in pushing the
boundaries of taste in their private joke-writing sessions, with supporters of
the writers and producers arguing that Lyle’s suit infringed on their freedom of
speech.

The high court declined to address the free-speech issues raised in the
case.

"We have no occasion to determine whether liability for such language might
infringe on free speech rights," the court held.

The show’s writers claimed Lyle was fired because she was a slow typist who
often missed the jokes she was supposed to transcribe.

HEIST Pulled Off

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TVSquad reports that HEIST has been axed. No surprise. What is surprising is that Mark Cullen, the creator of the show left a comment on the blog about it, confirming the cancellation and sharing his frustrations:

Yes, the show’s run was cut from 13 episodes to 6. For those of you who
liked it — thanks so much for watching. It was supposed to be fun and
we were just finding our legs when we were cancelled. For those of you
who didn’t – Why did you watch it? What kind of free time do you have?
Also, you should try creating a network show sometime. Not easy. NBC
will be showing three more episodes of the show, and I’d be surprised
if you don’t think it’s a top-tier show at the end of it’s run.

Crime Doesn’t Pay

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Variety reports that the ratings for the premiere of THIEF on FX were underwhelming, posting the network’s lowest ratings yet for the launch of a new drama series. This comes on the heels of the poor performance of the similarly-themed HEIST on NBC last week, despite a lead-in from LAW AND ORDER. Both shows track a gang of thieves as they prepare for a major score.

Debut episode [of THIEF] posted a 1.1 national rating/3
share and 1.4 million adults 18-49, putting it behind a new episode of
"The Real World" (1.3/3, 1.7 million). "Thief" tied in the demo with
Discovery Channel’s "Deadliest Catch," which aired at 9.

FX execs remain optimistic, pointing out that ratings for "Thief" are on par
with the most recent season of "The Shield" (2.8 million overall, 1.8
million in 18-49), which was considered a success by all accounts.
Six-episode series starring Andre Braugher as the leader of a
vault-robbing team also earned raves from critics.

Big Day for Two Crime Writers

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Variety reports that novelist James Ellroy will adapt Nicci French’s thriller LAND OF THE LIVING for New Line Cinema. Literary agent Joel Gotler will be among the executive producers, presumably for brokering the deal.

Story concerns a promiscuous woman who’s
captured and tortured by a serial killer. After surviving the ordeal,
she has to figure out what happened because cops and even her friends
think she fabricated the story.

Alexandra Milchan brought the book to
Ellroy, who just adapted his own "The Night Watchman" at Paramount.
Milchan is producing that pic with Lucas Foster and Erwin Stoff.

Kelley Goes to Mars

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Variety reports that David E. Kelley is developing an American version of the hit BBC series LIFE ON MARS, about a cop who is in a near-fatal car wreck and wakes up in 1973. Has he really traveled back in time? Is he dreaming it? Or is he dead? Only the creators of the show and David Kelley know for sure. There was an interesting tid-bit in the article, though…apparently, BOSTON LEGAL is "on the bubble" for renewal.

Drive to the Big Screen

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Variety reports that Universal Studios has bought the James Sallis novel DRIVE as a feature film vehicle for Hugh Jackman. This is a coup not only for Sallis, but for Poisoned Pen, the small Phoenix-based press which published the widely-acclaimed novella. Sallis is also the author of the Lew Griffin PI tales set in New Orleans.

In other mystery/thriller book news in the trades today, Paramount Pictures has hired X-MEN scribe David Hayter  to adapt Bob Reiss’ soon-to-be-published novel BLACK MONDAY for the screen.

Abbott Not Panicking

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The movie adaptation of Jeff Abbott’s PANIC is moving along at a nice clip.  Richard Regen is writing the script  and Richard Shepard, who helmed the Pierce Brosnan movie THE MATADOR, will direct. I thought MATADOR was great, but all I know about Regen is that he worked on the short-lived UPN series SECRET AGENT MAN.

Lots of TV News Today

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Variety reports that CBS has given early renewals to GHOST WHISPERER, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, CRIMINAL MINDS, NCIS, COLD CASE, WITHOUT A TRACE, NUMBERS, TWO AND A HALF MEN, THE AMAZING RACE, SURVIVOR, and all three CSIs for next season. None of those pick-ups are surprises, what’s news is that CBS decided to make those decisions so early. Typically, networks wait another two months before making those announcements. The fates of COURTING ALEX, STILL STANDING, CLOSE TO HOME, KING OF QUEENS, 48 HOURS, and YES DEAR are still up-in-the-air. LOVE MONKEY is a dead monkey and there are a handful of show mid-season shows set to premiere in the coming weeks.

NBC has officially cancelled BOOK OF DANIEL, which they yanked a few months ago after just three episodes. The lesson I’ve learned from this is not to do a series featuring Jesus as a character (thus forcing me to scrub my terrific pitch JESUS P.I.).

TNT has canceled WANTED but picked up SAVED to pair with CLOSER or THIEF. The lesson I’ve learned from this  is that TNT wants more one-word titled shows.  Two other pilots are still in contention: TALK TO ME and GRACE. My money is on GRACE (If I were the producers of TALK TO ME, I’d quickly retitle it TALKER).

HBO has renewed DEADWOOD for a fourth season before the third has even aired. The lesson I’ve learned from this is that the fucking execs at fucking HBO can do whatever the fuck they want and buy the fucking shows that they fucking enjoy (and that I fucking enjoy, too).

UPDATE 3-8-06:  TV Critic Aaron Barnhart reports on his blog that CBS has axed "King of Queens," "Still Standing," and "Yes, Dear" and new shows
"Close To Home" and "Out of Practice."

Boy, the way they’re wrapping up
CBS’s business, you’d think Les Moonves and company had another network
to run.

Back Under the Wing

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TV Geek alert: Variety reports that a slew of former WEST WING actors are reprising their roles as the series heads towards its finale. Among the actors returning for segments are Rob Lowe, Mary Louise Parker, Timothy Busfield, Gary Cole, Annabeth Gish, Tim Matheson, Marlee Matlin, Anna Deavere Smith and Emily Proctor as "Ainsley Hayes."