In the Trades Today

Variety reports that Warner Brothers will make 14,000 episodes from more than 300 series available on America Online for free, on-demand viewing. What’s the catch? Commercials. The new program launches in January.

"We want to create a new broadband network for content looking for its next
window of distribution," explained Kevin Conroy, exec VP of AOL Media Networks.
"This is an IP (Internet protocol) television service that is available
whenever, wherever in the digital home."

It will be interesting to see how the WGA, DGA and SAG will take this news…and what residual formula will be adopted, at least initially, to pay writers, actors and directors.

Warner Brothers hopes Al Gough and Miles Millar can do for AQUAMAN what they did for SUPERMAN with SMALLVILLE. Variety reports that the writing team have been signed by the WB to produce a pilot about the young Aquaman.

As with "Smallville," their successful reinvention of the "Superman" saga,
Gough and Millar plan to focus on character rather than cheese. Skein
won’t be called "Aquaman" — indeed, the "A" word won’t even be mentioned — and
Curry "won’t be talking to fish or riding a seahorse," Gough said.

And while "Smallville" recently generated great ratings with an episode
featuring an appearance by Aquaman, the new project won’t be a spinoff. To
underline that point, Alan Ritchson, the actor who played Curry on "Smallville,"
isn’t under consideration for the role in the pilot.

Movies are big on TV again… as TV series. Variety reports that director David Cronenberg is turning his 1988 movie DEAD RINGERS into a TV series for HBO.

Paybox has ordered a pilot script, which Wesley
Strick ("Cape Fear") will write and Cronenberg will direct.
Cronenberg and Strick will both exec produce along with feature producer Carol
Baum ("The
Good Girl"). Morgan Creek Prods. is on board to produce.

The original film "Dead Ringers" is the story of twin gynecologists, both
played by Jeremy Irons, who go insane after becoming romantically involved with
the same woman.

Cronenberg’s movie THE DEAD ZONE has turned out to be a big hit for USA Network. I’m waiting for them to turn his movies  CRASH and RABID into TV series.

And in other TV news, Fox has cut ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT’s order this season from 22 episodes to 13 and yanked it off the schedule for sweeps. Not a good sign. But it could be worse.  KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL was also pulled for the rest of the month and no new episodes will be ordered.

Over at the WB, SEVENTH HEAVEN is ending… producers announced that this season, the show’s tenth, will be its last.

While "7th" is still a solid ratings performer, because of the skein’s age,
its costs have risen steadily over the years, making it cost-prohibitive for the
Frog to continue production, insiders said.

Still, show consistently draws more than 5 million viewers in its current
season, among Frog’s top-rated shows.

"Although we had anticipated this could be the last season, it was difficult
breaking the news to the cast and crew," series creator Brenda Hampton said. "At
this point, we’re all very much a family. However, just like the Camden kids, I
think we’ve all grown up and it’s simply time to leave home."

David Breckman, the brother of MONK creator Andy Breckman, has sold a pilot to USA Network called UNDERFUNDED, about a secret agent for the Canadian Intelligence Agency. 

Exec VP of programming Jeff Wachtel described the hourlong as a spy thriller
"viewed through this huge comic filter."

"Underfunded" is one of two series pilots under consideration at the cabler.
Other is feature scribe Steve Franks’ "Psych," starring James Roday and Dule
Hill, about a fake psychic detective (Daily Variety, June 17).

Much like USA’s top-rated hour "Monk," both drama pilots are lighter and more
comedic in nature than such past efforts as "Touching Evil" and "Peacemakers."
Wachtel said the move in that direction is strategic.

"We’re not doing this exclusively, but we think there is a real opportunity
to go against the grain of what most broadcast and cable dramas are doing," he
said. "There’s a real dark tone to a lot of what’s out there — most of which is
brilliantly executed — but we see it as a chance to go another way."

Chances are slim, in fact, that the network will renew Ving
Rhames drama "Kojak," which took a decidedly more serious tone
than the original 1973 series. Skein maintained modest ratings throughout its
run, but didn’t reach the highs achieved by "Monk" and "The 4400."

David has been a writer/producer on MONK for  its entire run. I think it would be fitting if his show ended up paired  with MONK.

UPDATE 5-21-05: David showed me the UNDERFUNDED pilot and it’s hilarious, especially if you’re  fan of the Bond movies.  Tonally, it’s a cross between THE ROCKFORD FILES and GET SMART. The hero isn’t a buffoon…he’s actually very good, he’s just working for an agency that gets no respect and no money. In that way, it’s sort of reminiscent of the old Canadian spy series ADDERLY. I’m hoping the series gets picked up. There really isn’t anything like it on TV right now.

I’m biased when it comes to PSYCH… Bill Rabkin & I have just written an episode of the show. It’s a very funny series and should pair up very nicely with MONK.

Arnold may have taken a hit Tuesday in the polls, but THE TERMINATOR is still fighting. Variety reports that the franchise is becoming a Fox TV series called THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES, which will focus on the character played by Linda Hamilton in the first two features and will take place between the second and third film. The series, which will be written and produced by WAR OF THE WORLDS scribe Josh Friedman, will also tie-in to the planned fourth TERMINATOR movie.

Linda
Hamilton is not expected to be involved in TV series. And because the series will be focused on the Connor family, it’s
not anticipated that Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger would be a regular part of the skein either
regardless of his political fortunes a year from now.

[Producer James Middleton said] the series will explore what happened to Sarah Connor after
the end of "T2," when the character went on the run. "She has the weight of the
world on her shoulder and she also has to raise a 14-year-old son who may be the
salvation of the world," he said.

Friedman said his "challenge is trying to figure out how to reinterpret
(Connor) for television."

Because the "Terminator" franchise involves time travel and alternate
futures, Friedman believe he’ll be able to take a few plot liberties in the
series — emphasis on "few."

"The last thing I want to do is take a title and exploit it," Friedman said.
"The show needs to stand on its own while still being respectful of the
franchise."

Unlike the features, "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" will not be non-stop
shoot-’em-up or chase scenes, in large part because of the reduced budgets of
television.

"There’s going to be a healthy dose of both (action and family drama),"
Friedman said, noting that the "Terminator" mythology "has a lot of big ideas in
it that don’t cost you a dime to explore."

"T3: Rise of the Machines," produced by C2 and Intermedia, grossed $427
million worldwide; the franchise overall has grossed more than $1 billion.

Vajna said C2 has been weighing an entry into TV via the "Terminator"
franchise for nearly two years and said the company hopes to develop other
projects for the medium.

After deciding to take the plunge, ICM-repped C2 pitched the idea to several
studios, with Warner Bros. ultimately making the most sense, Vajna said. Warners
handled domestic distribution of "T3."

Friedman, repped by UTAUTA,
wrote the script for Brian De
PalmaBrian
De Palma‘s upcoming "The Black Dahlia."

Meanwhile, another movie franchise, BLADE, is coming to television as well. The SpikeTV pilot will star Kirk "Sticky" Jone as the vampire hunter played by Wesley Snipes on the big screen. Jill Wagner, Neil Jackson, Nelson Lee and Jessica Gower round out the cast. Peter
O’Fallon will direct,   David Goyer (screenwriter of the BLADE trilogy)  is exec producing and co-wrote the script with Geoff Johns.

Here’s a little BLADE trivia for you… over a decade ago, Bill Rabkin & I wrote a BLADE feature script for New World Pictures, which owned the Marvel library at the time. New World was courting Richard Roundtree to star. Bill and I, Roundtree, and a bunch of studio execs had lunch at a fancy restaurant to talk about it…and all got horrific food poisoning afterwards. We were vomiting for days.  It was a bad omen. The movie…well, our version of it anyway, never got made.

Flash forward to 2004. Roundtree is cast in an episode of MISSING and I end up spending the day with him in an ADR studio. He doesn’t remember me, of course. So I mention the BLADE meeting and he starts laughing. "All I remember about that lunch is that it nearly killed me," he said.

Variety reports that NBC has acquired an option to buy  PAX,  which was recently rechristened The I Network (presumably the "I" was for endless "Informercials").

NBC U paid $25 million for an 18-month option to buy the "family-friendly"
broadcaster in a deal that gives the network control over the fate of the
company owning the largest group of TV stations in the nation.

As part of the deal, founder Lowell "Bud" Paxson will step down as CEO and
become "chairman emeritus"; NBC U biz
development chief Brandon Burgess will become chief exec of Paxson.

NBC Universal can’t acquire Paxson under current FCC ownership limits, but
the option can be transferred to other parties, allowing NBC to shop for a
strategic partner for Paxson, be it a studio, a conglom
without TV assets or a new media company such as Yahoo! or Google…

How the network once known as Pax-TV will change depends on who comes forward
as a partner in the venture. That partner could be a cable company with content
aspirations, a satellite TV company looking to expand local programming, or a
conglom without stations, such as Time
Warner.

"This transition is just the beginning of the evaluation process," said
Burgess. "Today is the beginning of allowing interested programming partners to
come and talk to us."

It’s not so much the network that appeals to NBC (or anybody else, especially in its current incarnation) but the station group that Paxson owns. So don’t to see SUE THOMAS F.B.EYE 0n NBC any time soon.

Variety reports that Ed Gorman’s novel THE POKER CLUB is finally coming to the screen.Tim McCann will direct from a script by Johnathon Schaech and
Richard Chizmar.

This tale of suburban violence focuses on four buddies who discover and
accidentally kill a burglar — who may not be alone — in the kitchen during
their weekly poker night. Their lives and the lives of their families are
forever changed by the difficult choices they must make. A January start date in Manitoba is
planned for "Poker."

Way to go Ed! I’m getting in line at the AMC right now.

The Book Standard reports that Reese Witherspoon will star in a movie adaptation of Jeff Long’s novel THE RECKONING.

The story centers on a photojournalist who arrives in Cambodia to cover the U.S.
military search for the remains of an American pilot shot down during the
Vietnam War.  Ted Tally (Red Dragon, The
Silence of the Lambs) penned the screenplay, which is out to directors.  Witherspoon will produce the project along with Type
A’s Jennifer Simpson.  Long’s
book was published by Atria in July 2004.

Variety reports that Alan Ball’s next TV series for HBO will be based on Charlaine Harris’ SOUTHERN VAMPIRE novels. I’ve met Charlaine and she’s a very nice woman — to be honest, I expected someone more, well,  goth.  She’s so sweet and polite…she  struck me as the kind of person who’d write cozy mysteries in the world of baking or knitting instead of vampire novels.

Project is set in a world where vampires and humans co-exist after the
development of synthetic blood. First book, "Dead Until Dark," revolves around a
waitress in rural Louisiana who meets the man of her dreams only to find out
he’s a vampire with a bad reputation.

"It’s not a high-concept pitch," Ball said. "Charlaine has created such a
rich environment that’s very funny and at the same time very scary. I bought the
book on impulse and I just couldn’t put it down."

HBO entertainment prexy Carolyn
Strauss said she’d been sure Ball would leave the television
world for movies after he wrapped "Six Feet," and she was surprised and grateful
that he came back to the network with yet another passion project.

"Alan really fell in love with the books," HBO entertainment prexy Carolyn
Strauss said. "At its heart, the books are a metaphor for difference and
outsiders and fitting in. That’s Alan’s bailiwick and what he writes so well
about."

In other TV news, Lifetime has axed STRONG MEDICINE, saying the show has "run its course" after six seasons, three different stars, and 132 episodes.

Strong Medicine" is one of the "truly remarkable success
stories in cable TV history. We’re grateful for all the contributions of exec
producers Tammy Ader and Whoopi Goldberg and the cast," he said. But it’s time
"to offer our viewers another option."

"Medicine" won’t necessarily be leaving the air anytime soon: Lifetime has
exclusive rerun rights to the medical drama through 2010.

This leaves MISSING as the only original drama left on the network…assuming it’s picked up for a fourth season.

ABC has renewed INVASION for the full season. This means that so far two of the three "alien invastion shows" this season have survived…SURFACE will resurface for a back-nine, but CBS hasn’t decided if they’ve hit their threshold of THRESHOLD though they have ordered three scripts. The script order doesn’t mean much. I’ve been on shows where they’ve ordered more scripts — SEAQUEST and SPENSER FOR HIRE come to mind —  and we still got cancelled. Scripts aren’t that expensive. The alphabet net (that’s Variety-speak for ABC)  hasn’t decided whether it wants more of THE NIGHT STALKER yet.

NBC has ordered three additions scripts for the ratings-challenged E-RING, but hasn’t yet pushed the button on shooting nine more episodes.