Film and Television

Still Another “Law and Order”

by

First, there was “Law & Order.” Then there was the TV movie, “Law & Order: Exiled,” in 1998, starring Chris Noth, which proved branded “Law & Order” fare could score big ratings. The series “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” soon followed. “Law & Order: Trial By Jury” is on tap for January. Now comes word in Variety that still more is on the way.Law_and_order NBC/Universal is developing three, two-hour movie sequels to “Law & Order: Exiled” starred Chris Noth… seven years after the original aired.

Chris Noth is ready to return to a familiar beat. Noth is in final talks to star in up to three “Law & Order””Law & Order”-branded telepics, reprising his role as Detective Mike Logan in a series of two-hour movies. Pics are being developed internally by NBC Universal Television Studio-based Wolf Films.

Last “L&O” pic with Noth, 1998’s “Exiled,” scored strong ratings, attracting roughly 28 million viewers to give NBC numbers that, at the time, repped the net’s best overnight Sunday numbers in three years.

“What ‘Exiled’ showed is that there’s an appetite for this franchise — and Chris was a huge part of that,” Wolf told the New York Post. Noth played Logan from 1990-1995.

How many more “Law & Order”-branded shows can NBC possibly air… and when will audiences reach their limit? Pretty soon, maybe even their sitcoms and news programs will have the “Law & Order” moniker, too.

That said… “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” remains, in my opinion, the best (and most critically under-rated) cop show on network television. This week’s episode was especially good.

Yet Another TV Show Goes Big Screen

by

While movie stars are flocking to primetime…

…primetime shows are flooding the theatres. Variety Reports that the 70s sitcom GOOD TIMES is heading to a multiplex near you.

Management-production company Creative Production Group has secured featurefeature rights to "Good Times," the 1970s Norman Lear sitcom that captured the life of an African-American family living in a Chicago housing project. The rights were secured by CPG’s Rodney Omanoff and Graham Kaye, both of whom will produce.

With the film "Speedway Junky""Speedway Junky" atop its resume, CPG didn’t have a track record comparable to those of the other suitors who tried to win the rights over the past decade, from Wesley Snipes to Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Earvin "Magic" Johnson and the Wayans clan.

But Omanoff did have one advantage: He ran a collection agency, which enabled him to track down series co-creator Mike Evans. Best remembered for playing Lionel on "The Jeffersons," Evans long ago retired to live in the California desert. While series co-creator Eric Monte put together several possible deals, Evans objected to being an afterthought and declined to sign off on them. Omanoff was the first suitor to visit him, and Evans was persuaded to make the deal.

Also on tap soon…BEWITCHED, THE HONEYMOONERS, FATHER KNOWS BEST, and MY THREE SONS.

Gee, I can remember when it used to be the other way around… and they tried to make TV shows based on movies. I must be getting old.

“Farscape” A Dud

by

Variety reports that SciFi may have been right to cancel FARSCAPE last season.

“Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars” tallied so-so ratings (1.9 million overall viewers) for the channel. Though the two-night event topped 18-49 rankings among basic cablers in its timeslot, the “Farscape” bow paled in comparison to recent Sci Fi original premieres “Stargate Atlantis” (4.2 million) and eighth-season launch of “Stargate SG-1” (3.2 million).

I wonder how it fared compared to the GROWING PAINS reunion the same night…?

Operators are Standing By

by

My brother Tod Goldberg, in his Las Vegas Mercury column this week, recounts what he learned during his one year foray in the infomercial business:

1. When they say, “If you call now, we’ll cut the price in half,” what they mean is, if you call at any time, ever. And when they say operators are standing by, they mean minimum wage, barely literate mutants who will, at any given time, give the home phone number of an account executive out to a dissatisfied owner of a facial product that purports to make you look 20 years younger but that usually is about as effective as a bottle of Jergens, are standing by.

2. There exists a gold-plated ThighMaster.

3. If the company you work for gets rid of the free bagels and coffee and fires people in the Human Resources Department, it’s time to begin preparing your resume.

4. If someone from a Chilean port city calls to complain about receiving a massive shipment of therapeutic rice-filled pillows infested with vermin, just take a message, quietly log out of your computer, say goodbye to all your friends and exit the building immediately.

5. When preparing to launch the Ed McMahon Miracle Fryer infomercial, do not ask in the middle of a meeting, “Isn’t it weird that there isn’t anything remotely miraculous about this product and that no actual frying takes place?”

Still More TV Revivals

by

Not only are HAWAII 5-0, MIAMI VICE, KOLCHAK movies on the way, but now Variety reports that DALLAS is going to the big-screen, too.

Regency Enterprises has struck a deal with "Legally Blonde" helmer Robert Luketic to helm an update of the wildly popular Eye web skein "Dallas," which aired from 1978-91. Set in a post-Enron world, with the conniving J.R. Ewing now the head of the most powerful energy company in the world, the film will feature the plottings and backstabbings of many of the original "Dallas" characters. Script is from Robert Harling ("The First Wives Club," "Steel Magnolias"); series creator David Jacobs is producing the film with former Sony Pictures exec VP of production-turned-producer Michael Costigan.

Speaking of TV shows-turned-to-movies, Variety Reports that Burt Reynolds has just signed to be Boss Hogg in the movie version of DUKES OF HAZARD. Seann William Scott and Johnny Knoxvilel play Bo and Luke Duke, Jessica Simpson is Daisy Duke.

Adaptation will be set in the present day but the General Lee, the duo’s 1969 Dodge Charger, is expected to be the same iconic orange car seen in the series. Pic is being directed by Jay ChandrasekharJay Chandrasekhar of the Broken Lizards comedy troupe, who co-wrote the script

Miami Vice Movie

by

Movies based on TV shows aren’t new… but it’s rare when the creative entities behind the show are also in charge of the big-screen version (in fact, I can only think of one recent example, "The X Files").

Variety reports that Miami Vice is the next cult tv series up for a theatrical re-do… with series exec producer/showrunner Michael Mann writing, producing and directing.

Universal is zeroing in on Colin Farrell to star as Det. James "Sonny""Sonny" Crockett, and the studio is in discussions with Jamie Foxx to star as Det. Ricardo Tubbs in the South Beach sizzler.

Farrell, you may recall, also starred in the movie version of SWAT. If this comes to pass, he’ll only be matched by Owen Wilson ("Starsky & Hutch," "I Spy") and Matt LeBlanc ("Lost in Space," "Charlies Angels") when it comes to doing the most tv-to-film adaptations.

That’s not the only revival news today. Frank Spotnitz, ex-producer of "The X Files," is hoping to craft a new version of "Kolchak: The Night Stalker."

"The first TV movie is burned into my memory," Spotnitz told Daily Variety. "It was a huge event at the time, and it was one of my favorite TV characters of all time. The chance to return to this character and find another great storytelling vehicle for smart, scary television was very appealing."

Still unclear is exactly how closely the new "Night Stalker" will mirror the format and mood of the original, which was based on a novel by Jeff Rice. While the first "Night Stalker" telepictelepic shattered Nielsen longformlongform records at the time, the series lasted just one season.

Spotnitz is staying mum about details regarding the new project, but did say he’s learned some lessons from his days on "X-Files" and a recent marathon re-watching of the original series.

"As much as I loved the TV movie, the series was not successful," he said. "I wouldn’t expect a religiously faithful adaptation. I don’t intend to repeat the same mistakes."

To me, Darren McGavin was 90% of the charm and humor of the movies and the series. I don’t know if a new version could be done, and capture any of the flavor of the original, without him. Besides, Spotnitz isn’t exactly know for his light touch…

Star Trek Enterprise — End This Mission

by

I knew, after the season finale of STAR TREK ENTERPRISE, that if the show continued, it was going to suck. It was a Planet of the Apes-esque ending where Capt. Archer wakes up on earth during world war II, is captured by the Nazis, and… they’re aliens. You know an sf show is on its last gasp when they start trotting out the Nazis. This was a new low for STAR TREK, which is saying a lot, considering they did a whole episode a season or two back about the Captain’s sick dog.

My writing partner William Rabkin caught the season premiere of ENTERPRISE before I did, and sent me this email while I was in Canada:

I bet you never dreamed that the season premiere would be Nazi aliens versus… Brooklyn gangsters! And in the same wardrobe as Oxmix and the other guy from “A Piece of the Action,” but without any personality.

I thought he had to be joking. Sadly, he wasn’t. I just saw the show for myself. It was astonishingly awful. It’s time UPN pulled the plug on ENTERPRISE. At this point, it would be a mercy killing. It’s too late for the show to die with dignity…

Boston Legal

by

I loved the last season of THE PRACTICE, which pitted amoral lawyer Alan Shore (James Spader) up against the dull, self-righteous, sanctimonious regular characters who survived David E. Kelley’s big cast purge. The last few episodes introduced William Shatner as pompous, egotistical, and perhaps demented lawyer Denny Crane. The episodes were funny, sharp and surprising. I wish I could say the same about the spin-off, BOSTON LEGAL. What made it work last season was the contrast/conflict between the deadly-serious old PRACTICE characters and Spader, who undercut them at every turn. But in this series, everybody is wacky and broad… there’s no one left for Spader to play off of. And without those “serious” characters to ground things, Shatner’s Denny Crane also loses most, if not all, of his comic punch. That said, I thought critic Robert Lloyd summed up the pleasures of watching Spader & Shatner at work…

Spader’s Alan Shore is a kind of happy, unflappable sociopath — perfect qualities for a trial lawyer, one might say — given to dumb smiles, soft-spoken barbs and an unhurried, deliberate way of moving. Whereas most television characters are constructed and played so that you know exactly what they’re thinking as they think it, and what they’re going to do before they do it, Shore (though you can at least expect him to do the right thing in the wrong way) remains enigmatic. By giving up so little, Spader makes him that much more interesting.

Spader’s appeal is peculiarly nonsexual; his real chemistry here is with Shatner. Indeed, there’s something sort of Kirk and Spock about them — Shatner puffed up like a blowfish, Spader deadpan and not quite of this Earth.

Aged an unbelievable 73, Shatner delivers a typically big performance, but one perfectly appropriate to a character who conceives of himself as larger than life. Yet at the same time, it’s his most modest work ever. Shatner has an unusual ability to play off his own pompousness, which makes him extremely likable, and for all kinds of reasons, not the least of them having to do with one’s memories of earlier Shatners, he is a joy to watch — that certain joy of watching the actor and the character at the same time.

“ER” Needs Medical Attention

by

I know one reason why ER is slipping in the ratings…

It’s new episodes all feel like reruns. After nine years, or however long the show has been on, every single doctor in the E.R. has been a trauma patient. It’s become ridiculous. This week, they wheeled in not one, but two, critically injured doctors. How often can they play the “oh my god, the patient is Dr. Schmeckle!” beat? It’s bad enough when they play the “oh my god, the patient is Dr. Schmeckle’s brother!” (or mother, or girlfriend, or sister, etc. etc.)

But if that wasn’t bad enough, how many times can they do the “doctors trapped in rising water” bit? Ever since that terrific George Clooney episode in season one or two, they keep rehashing that plot, and variations of it, every season.

It’s time for E.R. to go in for an Extreme Make-Over. It’s become a tired, maudlin, uninspired soap opera… no wonder people are changing the channel.

Sex in the City Spinoff

by

Cynthia Nixon, who just won an Emmy for her role in SEX IN THE CITY, is spinning off into new sexual territory. She’s involved with a woman now, or so reports the NY Daily News.

Cynthia Nixon is trying a different kind of sex in the city, the Daily News has learned.
For almost 10 months now, the Emmy-winning actress has been dating another woman, sources say.

Back in June of 2003, Nixon split with Danny Mozes, the father of her two children. Last January, according to friends, she began a lesbian relationship.

Right now, Nixon, 38, does not want to be as outspoken as Rosie O’Donnell, the sources say.

But Nixon did not flinch when we asked her yesterday whether she is involved with another woman.

Speaking exclusively with the Daily News, she said, “My private life is private. But at the same time, I have nothing to hide. So what I will say is that I am very happy.”

Word is that Nixon’s partner is not in show business.