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Channel Surfing: Jamie Bamber Thinks "BSG" Should Be a Bigger Hit, Product Integration, Ivan Sergei, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. I had a fantastically relaxing weekend, between the rain and some quality telly on Sunday night with Skins, Amazing Race, and Mad Men keeping me occupied all evening.

Showtime is developing drama series The Booths, about the dysfunctional relationship between three actor-brothers Edwin, Junius Brutus Jr., and John Wilkes Booth in the years before the latter would assassinate Abraham Lincoln. The brothers were the sons of British actor Junius Brutus Booth and actress Mary Ann Holmes. While there is no writer or production company attached, Kevin Bacon has signed on to executive produce the project. (Variety)

Jamie Bamber says that Battlestar Galactica could have become a mainstream hit like Doctor Who if it had aired on a bigger network platform. "[Battlestar] is only cult because it's been stuck on Sky One and not pushed. In America it's on the Sci Fi Channel, which has a stigma to it. If it was on a mainstream channel it would be as big as Doctor Who or Lost. I take 'cult' to mean not mainstream or readily available." Hmmm, do we agree with his assessment? Sadly, I think that had BSG aired on, say, NBC, it would have been cancelled pretty early on if the numbers didn't match their expectations. (Digital Spy)

Wayne McClammy (the director of such viral videos as the Matt Damon and Ben Affleck love songs that appeared on The Jimmy Kimmel Show) will direct the pilot for FOX's single-camera space-set workplace comedy Boldly Going Nowhere, from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia creators Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, and Glenn Howerton. (I read the Boldly script a few months back and, while I am addicted to Sunny, found that it wasn't really too funny.) (Hollywood Reporter)

Ivan Sergei (Charmed) has been cast in the season finale of Lifetime's Army Wives, where he'll play the long-lost nephew of Betty (Patricia French). (TV Guide)

CBS has handed out a put pilot commitment to comedy Big D, from writer/executive producers Jeff and Jackie Filgo (That '70s Show, Old Christine) and Warner Bros. Television, but both the network and the studio are being tight-lipped about the project's premise. (Variety)

NBC is developing drama ICE, about the world of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents with the department of Homeland Security, post-9/11. Writer Joe Carnahan (Dirt) and director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) are attached to the project, which hails from Universal Media Studios. Project should not be confused with AMC's similarly-named but significantly less-capitalized Ice, about the world of diamond dealers in New York City. (Variety)

Felt that Liz Lemon hawking the joys of Diet Snapple on NBC's 30 Rock went a little far in the product placement category? You may not be alone as New York Magazine takes an in-depth look at everyone's least favorite element of television-making, circa 2008: product integration. (New York Magazine)

CBS Paramount Network Television has signed a two-year exclusive overall deal with One Tree Hill creator Mark Schwahn, under which he will develop new series for the studio. Separately, Schwahn has signed a one-year deal with Warner Bros. Television to keep him as showrunner on the CW drama series (pointing to signs that the netlet will pick up the drama for another season) and has signed a deal with CBS Records to launch his own imprint. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Comments

Anonymous said…
As much as I love BSG I also think it would have crashed and burned on a larger network. (Remember Firefly, anyone?) It may not have been as big of a "hit" on Sci-Fi but at least it's had a good run time and, hopefully, it allowed the creators to tell the story they wanted to tell.

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