Channel Surfing: "Witches," "Heroes," Surfing Cops, Joss on Batman, and More

Good morning and welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

Remakes seem to be all the rage these days, with several US networks remaking not only UK scripted formats but also recycling old US dramas (ahem, Knight Rider) and feature films. So what's in the pipeline? Besides AMC's recent announcement that they are developing a series based on 1970s surveillance flick The Conversation, lots.

CBS is developing a series remake of Streets of San Francisco with Sheldon Turner and a remake of the long-running procedural cop drama Hawaii Five-O--which ran from 1968 to 1980 and introduced the catchphrase "Book 'em, Danno!"--with Criminal Minds executive producer/showrunner Ed Bernero attached to write. Updated version of Hawaii Five-O will follow the exploits of Chris McGarrett, the chief of the fictional Hawaiian state police department and son of the original's Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord). (Aside: Bernero is also working on another CBS project, Washington Field, following the agents and experts at the FBI's Washington Field Office who travel around the globe reponding to events that concern the US.) (Hollywood Reporter)

Speaking of remakes, ABC has issued a put pilot order to a series based on the 1987 feature film The Witches of Eastwick, with Maggie Friedman (Dawson's Creek) attached to write and executive produce. Eastwick, itself based on a John Updike novel, tells the story about three women who are drawn to witchcraft after losing the men in their lives and end up conjuring up a demonic fiend who seduces all of them. It's not the first time a network has tried to develop a series take on the feature: in 1992, Lost's Carlton Cuse and Jeffrey Boam developed a Witches of Eastwick drama pilot; in 2002, FOX and Warner Bros. Television developed another version--entitled Eastwick-- which focused on the teenage sons of the original witches, played by Lori Loughlin, Marcia Cross, and Kelly Rutherford. (Variety)

Wondering what some of the cast and crew of NBC's Saturday Night Live have been up to during their summer hiatus? Looks like many of them have been working on web series The Line, about fanboys waiting in a queue for eleven days for the premiere of a sci-fi flick. “We wanted to have an experience of shooting something on our own,” Bill Hader said in an interview about the process. “This is a good medium to do it in because it’s a very low-stakes medium.” (New York Times)

Colin Hanks guest stars in next week's episode of Mad Men on ABC; he'll play a young priest in three episodes of the period drama's sophomore season. And we all know who's been having a little problem of late with religion, sin, and her family, now don't we? Yes, Miss Peggy Olson, I am looking at you.

Michael Ausiello is reporting that Seth Green and Breckin Meyer are in talks with the producers of NBC's Heroes about joining the series for a multiple-episode story arc in which they would play comic book geeks who cross paths with one of the heroes. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Speaking of Heroes, LA Times' Show Tracker visits the set of the drama, entering its third season this fall and chats with Zachary Quinto and new cast member Brea Grant. (Los Angeles Times)

"Bergdorf Blondes" author Plum Sykes and The Comeback's Amy Harris are developing a half-hour comedy for NBC entitled Mogulettes, about high-flying twenty-something female moguls. Plot would follow Eva, the gorgeous and intelligent head of a cosmetics empire. Universal Media Studios will produce along with Original Media's Charlie Corwin, who has a deal with NBC Entertainment. (Variety)

Sundance Channel will air six-episode British comedy Pulling, about a bride-to-be who decides not to get married while partying at her hen party and instead moves in with her single friends. Series, which aired in the UK on BBC Three, is set to launch Stateside on October 19th, part of Sundance Channel's comedy block, kicking off on September 7th. (Hollywood Reporter)

Finally, have you ever wondered what TV god Joss Whedon would do if he got his hands on the Batman feature franchise? The Buffy creator spoke to MTV about his rejected plans for the Caped Crusader, before auteur Christopher Nolan got the gig. "In my version, there was actually a new [villain], it wasn’t one of the classics — which is probably why they didn’t use it,” Whedon told MTV. “It was more of a ‘Hannibal Lector’ type — he was somebody already in Arkham Asylum that Bruce went and sort of studied with. It was a whole thing — I get very emotional about it, I still love the story. Maybe I’ll get to do it as a comic one day." Sigh. We can only dream. (MTV Splash Page)

Stay tuned.

Shawn Ryan Sells Four Projects; I Ask Why Are the 1970s So In Right Now?

Even as fellow FX creator Ryan Murphy sold two projects in the last two weeks, The Shield creator Shawn Ryan has proven himself to be even more prolific than Murphy, nailing down no less than four television projects in the last few weeks to a collection of broadcast networks and cablers, including FX, FOX, and CBS. All projects will be produced by 20th Century Fox Television, where Ryan signed an overall deal last September.

Ryan will team with Ocean's Eleven writer Ted Griffin for an untitled one-hour comedic series about a private detective, which has been fast-tracked by cabler FX. Details are scarce at the moment but I am doing some digging to see just what the premise is for this intriguing concept, one that seems to be very different to the sort of darkness as that have categorized many of FX's drama series.

Over at CBS, Ryan has given a put pilot commitment to an adaptation of Richard Murphy's upcoming novel Confessions of a Contractor, about a blue-collar contractor who renovates wealthy people's home and finds himself caught in a love triangle with two women, who used to be best friends. Project will be adapted as a one-hour drama with Richard Murphy attached to write.

In a vastly different direction, The Unit co-creator has received a script commitment for half-hour comedy Millionaires Club, about a group of wannabe millionaires who concoct elaborate (and doomed to fail) schemes in order to strike it rich. (Lest you think this is a 180 degree turn for Ryan, he did get his start working on the NBC comedy My Two Dads, so he's no stranger to half-hours.) FOX seems determined to do something in this genre, following last season's Ricky Blitt-scripted pilot Single White Millionaire.

Finally, there's The Lead Sheet at A&E, set in the 1970s and following the three police officers and two district attorneys who are investigating the notorious Hillside Strangler case in Los Angeles, "with each episode of the crime procedural starting with a tip leading to a violent crime that may or may not be related to the Strangler," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

I'm not sure why the 1970s seem to be a common denominator for development recently, but 1970s-set skeins seem to be all the rage these days, with ABC's Life on Mars scheduled to launch in October, Swingtown currently airing this summer on CBS, and AMC developing a period drama based on the 1974 feature film The Conversation (starring Gene Hackman) that will also be set in the 1970s and use that era's technology to tell the story of a surveillance expert who discovers he is himself being watched. That project will be written by Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects) and Erik Jendresen (Band of Brothers); producer Tony Krantz has been trying to get it made for ten years.

Stay tuned.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: Big Brother 10 (CBS); Last Comic Standing (NBC; 8-9:30 pm); Smallville (CW); Ugly Betty (ABC); So You Think You Dance (FOX; 8-10 pm)

9 pm: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS); America's Got Talent (NBC; 9:30-11 pm); Supernatural (CW); Grey's Anatomy (ABC)

10 pm: Flashpoint (CBS); Hopkins (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching:

10 pm: Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List on Bravo.

Okay, I know, I know, but I find her acerbic overeagerness somehow calming. On tonight's episode ("Woz Love Got to Do With It?"), Kathy teams up with Steve Wozniak to host a charity event but it proves a little too stressful for their friendship to bear; later, Kathy tries to find one of her friends a date.

Ryan Murphy Sells Another Project... This Time to NBC

Ryan Murphy has sold yet another project to a network this week, landing himself a pilot script deal at NBC for a single-camera half-hour comedy based on Brian Frazer's memoir "Hyper-chondriac: One Man's Quest to Hurry Up and Calm Down," following a bidding war for the project between ABC and NBC.

Frazer's memoir is about his own odyssey to eliminate the stress that was causing his various medical ailments.

Jason Dean Hall (Grand Theft Auto) will adapt the book for television, with the plot revolving around a pharmaceutical salesman who sells his supplies at hospitals and believes he is suffering from various illnesses... the symptoms of which end up being real, rather than imagined, but are caused by other factors.

Murphy is attached to direct and executive produce the pilot for Hyper-condriac, which is expected to shoot next year.

The news comes swiftly on the heels of Murphy's sale of his drama pilot script Glee, which FOX picked up in July and has hopes to put on the air sometime in March.

Glee is about a high school Spanish teacher who becomes the adviser to the school's glee club, made up of a motley crew of eccentrics whom he hopes to mold into a formidable musical force.

I read the script for Glee about two weeks ago and have to say that I was less than impressed. I get that FOX wants to put this on the air at the same time that American Idol is on, hoping that the halo effect will continue over to this dull drama.

Murphy mined teenagedom to far better effect in his shortlived WB series Popular and here the characters are so stock that they seem made of cardboard. I also just don't see where this series is going and the plot seems better suited for a film than an ongoing series, especially given that some of the obstacles facing the glee club are already erased by the end of the pilot script. How very disappointing.

Stay tuned.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: NCIS (CBS); Celebrity Family Feud (NBC); Beauty & the Geek (CW); Wipeout (ABC); Kitchen Nightmares (FOX)

9 pm: Big Brother 10 (CBS); America's Got Talent (NBC; 9-11 pm); Reaper (CW); I Survived a Japanese Game Show (ABC; 9-11 pm); House (FOX)

10 pm: Without a Trace (CBS)

What I'll Be Watching

8-10 pm: Britcoms on BBC America.

I don't know about you but by Tuesday night, I'm usually in need of some comedy in my life. Why not stick around on Tuesday nights for BBC America's new comedy lineup, consisting of classic episodes of Coupling, new comedy Not Going Out, and Absolutely Fabulous?

8 pm: Kitchen Nightmares.

'Cause I miss the softer side of Gordon Ramsay.

10 pm: Flipping Out on Bravo.

On the second season finale of Flipping Out ("Back in the Market"), Jeff refuses to be a "doormat" anymore and comes down hard on his crew whilst finding himself looking for a new place to live, with a deal on Commonwealth looking likely to close.

Peacock Spreads Wings (And Script Orders)

A few freshman series got a slight vote of confidence from their respective networks.

NBC has ordered three additional scripts for each of its new dramas, including Chuck, Journeyman, Bionic Woman, and Life. While it's not quite the back nine order that I've been hoping for (especially in the case of Chuck), it's definitely a step in the right direction.

CBS, meanwhile, extended the order for four additional scripts from its primetime soap Cane.

So far the CW's Gossip Girl has been the only freshman drama to receive a full season pickup, despite a staggering 30 percent drop in viewership between the series opener and second episode.

Given the immediacy of the strike situation (nearly everyone--myself included--now believes that the strike is definitely happening), I am surprised that the networks aren't handing out additional script orders--even as many as nine--left and right. There's no guarantee that these scripts will ever be shot but, given the looming threat and that October 31st deadline, it sure would be nice to have some protection, no?

What's On Tonight

8 pm: Survivor: China (CBS); My Name is Earl/30 Rock (NBC); Smallville (CW); Ugly Betty (ABC); Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (FOX)

9 pm: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS); The Office (NBC); Supernatural (CW); Grey's Anatomy (ABC); Don't Forget the Lyrics (FOX)

10 pm: Without a Trace (CBS); ER (NBC); Big Shots (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

8 pm: Ugly Betty.

On tonight's episode ("Betty's Wait Problem"): Betty is distracted by Gio (Freddy Rodriguez), a new sandwich vendor at the office, and is still clearly not over Henry; Wilhelmina tries to get her wedding back on track at the annual Black and White Ball but Claire shows up; Amanda makes her first social appearance as Fey's illegitimate daughter.

8:30 pm: 30 Rock.

What's on my mind grapes? It's the second season of the Emmy Award winning comedy. On tonight's episode ("Jack Gets in the Game"), Will Arnett returns! Jack contends with his archenemy Devin (Arnett) when both compete to replace the retiring Don Geiss (Rip Torn), whose daughter just happens to be engaged to Devin.

9 pm: The Office.

Season Four of The Office continues tonight with a one-hour episode ("Launch Party"), in which Michael can't wait to attend a swanky launch party for Dunder-Mifflin's new website in New York, while Angela arranges a party in Scranton; Dwight tries to sell more paper in a day than the website.

10-11 pm: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on FX.

FX's hilariously subversive comedy It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia continues tonight with two back-to-back episodes. On the first ("Sweet Dee's Dating a Retarded Person"), Dee dates a local rapper but finds out that he may be mentally challenged. On the second ("Hundred Dollar Baby"), Frank tutors Dee in boxing after she's mugged but runs into a former nemesis at the gym.

Minear Tackles "Miracle Man" for ABC

Just a day after one Televisionary reader proposed that Tim Minear (Drive) take on a relaunch of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise with a new Faith series starring Eliza Dushku, the man himself has turned up in the trades with a new series.

Following a fierce bidding war, ABC has won the rights to Minear's latest series, Miracle Man, co-created with Todd Holland (whom Minear worked with on FOX's shortlived Wonderfalls). The project, from 20th Century Fox Television, has been given a put pilot commitment.

Drama revolves around "a disgraced former televangelist, a man of no faith, who finds that God is using him to perform real miracles and change lives, starting with his own."

Hmmm, intriguing. The Hollywood Reporter was quick to point out that televangelism is no stranger to Minear, whose father is a radio engineer for religious programs. Minear himself also attended several evangelical schools as a child.

Lest you think that the series will portray its religious characters in the same light as, say, Juniper Creek compound members, think again. Miracle Man "is not in any way an indictment to religion," said Minear. "It's a love letter to the religious."

A love letter to the religious right? Minear may just have found his first longer-lived series in a quite some time.

Televisionary Exclusive: First Look at FOX's "The Oaks" Script

Ask and ye shall receive. That's always been my motto and there's a reason why it's true.

In this case, I'm talking about the script for FOX's just-announced new series The Oaks, the first series order for newly installed president Kevin Reilly, which will pit The Shield creator Shawn Ryan on a network series that's... high-concept, to say the least.

By Monday afternoon, I had gotten my greedy hands on David Schulner's script for The Oaks and eagerly devoured the supernatural/relationship drama. It's ambitious, layered, and eerily suspenseful; nothing like it currently exists on network television (in the States, anyway). It certainly doesn't feel like a FOX series, but I think that's Reilly's intention: to steer the audience away from those stereotypes of what makes a FOX series just that.

The quick 411 on The Oaks, which comes from 20th Century Fox Television: it's about three married couples who live in the same house in three different decades. The three couples, separated by time, are linked by spirits that seem to haunt the house that they all share. It's an overlapping narrative that presents three distinct time periods side-by-side and will definitely test the strength of the production crew to carry off three period feels (not to mention having to constantly age and de-age the house, depending on the scene).

Some more specifics but I refuse to spoil anything concrete (sorry!). In 1967, estranged couple Sarah and Mike live in the house but both harbor deep feelings of resentment and isolation towards each other following a certain family tragedy. In 1987, the house is inhabited by sexually frustrated Molly and Frank and their two children, Lucy and Brian. Finally, there's the expectant couple Dan and Hollis, who move into the house in 2007 and, during their ongoing renovations, quickly make a discovery that shines a light on just what exactly is going on inside the house.

The pilot script is titled "Amelia," and there's a clear and concise reason for selecting that title. It also goes a long way towards explaining just what is haunting this house and why, along with setting up several intriguing mysteries along the way. People are continually drawn to this house and drawn BACK to it; several characters have unexpected connections to the past in some very novel ways. But lest you think that this is a ghost story, it delves deeply into the relationships between the central couples, making this an emotional exploration as much as a metaphysical one.

What I read was an early writer's draft of The Oaks and the script should go through several revisions before a pilot is shot in November. But in the meantime, I can't help but wonder what director Michael Cuesta (Dexter) and showrunner Shawn Ryan have up their sleeves. While several networks have made announcements about pilot orders and the like, The Oaks is definitely one project to watch during the course of the next development season.

Stay tuned.

Network Scorecard: "Studio 60" and "Brian" Get Full Seasons; Script Orders for "Veronica" and "30 Rock"; "Justice" and "Happy Hour" Get Benched

After weeks of industry-wide speculation, NBC has finally put the matter to bed and ordered the back nine episodes of struggling freshman drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which had been dogged by (credible) rumors of cancellations.

But you can bet your bottom dollar that NBC didn't walk away from the bargaining table without an economic upside. Sources are reporting that NBC and studio Warner Bros. TV only came to a deal for Studio 60's full season order thanks to a lower license fee for the additional nine installments, at a price much lower than the $2.5-3 million they paid per episode of the original order. And NBC is mulling possibly moving the struggling series out of its Mondays at 10 pm timeslot as it explores other options.

The Peacock, which also ordered three additional scripts for struggling frosh series 30 Rock and Friday Night Lights, is expected to release its midseason lineup in the next few days.

UPDATE: NBC has since ordered the back nine episodes of Friday Night Lights, bumping the freshman series to full season order status.

Meanwhile, over at ABC, some good news for fans of sophomore drama What About Brian, which also received a full season pickup, bumping its episode count to 22 this season.

Not such good news at FOX, however, which has been struggling this season with an extremely uneven lineup. The network quickly pushed The Rich List onto the air, only to pull it after one episode and then tested The O.C. in a Wednesday night timeslot to extremely lukewarm results. Now FOX has benched two of its downwardly-mobile performers. Both Justice and Happy Hour have been pulled, effective immediately. Happy Hour, which had been seen to be on a, er, "permanent hiatus," will not be returning to FOX's schedule in any way, shape, or form. (Hardly surprising, seeing as most people weren't aware it was on the schedule in the first place.) As for drama Justice, FOX is being a little more coy, saying that the legal drama COULD pop up again on the schedule in January, typically a time of lineup shakeup for the net, thanks to the return of hits 24 and American Idol.

While I would have rather heard about a back nine pickup, drama Veronica Mars received some good news the other day as netlet CW ordered three additional scripts of the noir-tinged series. While it's a sign that the CW is open to continuing the series past the 13-episode mark (the third season of Veronica has only been picked up for 13 episodes so far), additional script orders do not always mean that episode orders will follow... nor does it mean that a particular series will make it to the full-season mark. Still, I can't imagine what else the CW has to air (other than midseason drama Hidden Palms and reality series Beauty and the Geek), considering that its ONLY new drama, Runaway, lasted less than a handful of episodes.

Fingers crossed that Veronica gets some much needed love and some additional episodes ordered soon; I'm still praying Dawn Ostroff comes to her senses and picks up the back nine ASAP. Fellow drama One Tree Hill also received an order of three additional scripts. The fate of that series, also in its third season, also remains up in the air... but I've heard rumblings that its timeslot is being targeted for the launch of newbie drama Hidden Palms, given the strength of timeslot lead-in America's Next Top Model.

Stay tuned.