Writer/Producer Tim Minear talks to zap2it.com about how his 21 JUMP STREET-esque pilot about an FBI agent going undercover in high school morphed into the doomed Fox series THE INSIDE.
It
began as a "21 Jump Street"-style tale of an undercover FBI agent (Rachel
Nichols) in high school. When that didn’t work out, Minear and pal Howard Gordon
("24"), who’d previously teamed on the short-lived 1999 ABC science-fiction
series "Strange World," reworked the idea, turning Nichols’ character into a
former childhood kidnap victim who parlays her unique insight into investigating
serial murder and other heinous crimes."I’ve got two unaired pilots," Minear says. "One of them is the original ’21
Jump Street’ version. The second one is the first attempt at shooting my script,
which we then went back and reshot."
If Minear never wanted to work in TV again, he could probably write a terrific non-fiction book about his experience.
That’s a shame about Tim Minear. Isn’t he one of the writers of Buffy and Angel? If so, then he’s a hell of a writer. Btw, Lee, I like your new designer look. Very nice. Quad pictures across the top make southern cali look so appealing.
Joan,
Tim did Angel, Firefly and Wonderfalls.
Those last two were also on Fox, so this is the third show he’s had cancelled by them.
This reminds me of that ’89 movie THE BIG PICTURE, starring Kevin Bacon.
http://imdb.com/title/tt0096926/
I don’t know if there is any phrase that makes me less interested in a show than “21 JUMP STREET-esque.”
I always forget Firefly–now showing on SciFi–not because it’s forgettable. It had everything a series needs, but, apparently, Fox did everything it could to ensure its failure. (Did Minear work on the screenplay for Serendipity?) Firefoy is out on DVD now and on my wish list along with season 3 of 24 and {blush} season 3 of Roswell which I already know isn’t as good as 1 and 2, but I’m hooked.