Skip to main content

Channel Surfing: Christopher Gorham Embroiled in "Covert Affairs," Franka Potente Moves into "House," NBC to Revive "Rockford Files," and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

Christopher Gorham (Harper's Island) will star opposite Piper Perabo in USA's spy thriller pilot Covert Affairs. Gorham's attachment would seemingly lift the casting contingency on the project, which follows Annie Walker, a polyglot CIA trainee (Perabo) whose relationship with an enigmatic ex-boyfriend makes her of interest to the agency. Gorham will play Auggie Anderson, a blinded CIA military intelligence operative who helps Walker. (Hollywood Reporter)

Franka Potente (The Bourne Identity) will guest star in the season premiere of House this fall, where she will play a mystery character that Gregory House encounters in the mental hospital. What's unclear is whether Potente will be playing a doctor, a patient, or a figment of House's imagination. Hmmmm.... (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

House creator David Shore has come on board to oversee a remake of private eye drama The Rockford Files with NBC, Universal Media Studios, and Steve Carell's Carousel Television. "It's one of the shows that made me want to become a writer," said Shore. "I had no interest in adapting any old stuff, but this was the one exception." Like the original, the update will likely focus on an LA private investigator who is trying to make a living solving cases. NBC apparently wanted to fast-track this for mid-season but Angela Bromstad now tells Variety's Cynthia Littleton that they will "take our time and get it right." (Variety)

Marti Noxon and Dawn Parouse Olmstead's Grady Twin Prods. have set up several projects in development around town. Diane Keaton is now attached to the duo's untitled comedy project at HBO about a feminist icon who starts a porn magazine for women. Noxon will write the pilot script. Elsewhere, the duo have teamed up with Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan on an adaptation of their horror novel series The Strain, which they plan to shop to networks as a three-season arc. (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that FOX is "toying with the idea of staging a crossover next season that would find [Bones'] Booth and Brennan working on a case with Tim Roth’s Lie to Me doc Lightman," citing an unnamed insider who warns Ausiello that plans are still in the early stages and "may not even happen." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Donal Logue (Life) has been cast as the lead in FX's gumshoe drama pilot Terriers, from Shawn Ryan (The Shield) and Ted Griffin (Ocean's Eleven). Logue will play ex-cop Hank, who teams up with his best friend to start a private investigation firm where the "duo, both with maturity issues, solve crimes while trying to avoid danger and responsibility.... Hank is an affable, talkative fellow who's not always the best liar but is adept at adopting different personas to find out information. He is alarmed by what he perceives as signs of his encroaching senility." Project hails from fox21. (Hollywood Reporter)

TLC has renewed unscripted series Cake Boss, which follows the staff of a family-run bakery in New Jersey, for a second season. (Variety)

Mike Soccio (The King of Queens) will write and executive produce an untitled single-camera comedy about a modern interracial couple in LA. Project will be executive produced by Martin Lawrence, Robert Lawrence, and Darice Rollins. (Hollywood Reporter)

Cabler G4 has ordered a spin-off of its imported series Ninja Warrior, entitled American Ninja Warrior, which will be executive produced by Craig Piligian and is set to launch this fall. Series, according to Broadcasting & Cable's Alex Weprin, "will chronicle the search to find10 American competitors to send to Japan and tackle the original series' obstacle course. The challenger who completes all four stages the fastest will be crowned the American Ninja Warrior." (Broadcasting & Cable)

Across the Pond, BSkyB has announced that it will be the first European broadcaster to offer 3D television when it launches the UK's first strictly 3D channel in 2010. Customers will need a 3D ready television set in order to watch the channel, which will offer a mix of movies, entertainment, and sporting events. (Broadcast)

UK satellite network Sky1 has ordered eight episodes of Just Dance, an X-Factor style dancing competition series that will replace outbound unscripted series Don't Forget the Lyrics. Series, from Shine and Princess Prods., will launch in January 2010. (Broadcast)

TruTV has ordered a second season of reality series Black Gold, which follows Texan oil rig crews. Season Two is said to include "Rooster" McConaughey, the brother of actor Matthew McConaughey. (Hollywood Reporter)

Syfy has hired Andrew Plotkin as SVP of original programming. Plotkin, who was a former Warner Bros. Television executive, will be based in Los Angeles and will report to Mark Stern and will work alongside SVP Erik Storey. Plotkin replaces Tony Optican, who now runs FremantleMedia North America's scripted division. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Comments

rockauteur said…
Tru TV also said that Rooster was in the first season of Black Gold... yet he only appeared in about one or two episodes. He is a pipe salesman, not someone who actually works on an oil rig, so it would be odd if he was a series regular anyway.
Piper said…
I like the idea of Diane Keaton in an HBO comedy. Her sublime talent has been wasted lately in too many cheesy movies.
Anonymous said…
So this is what happened to Shore's whole PI spin-off from House. LOL.

Also, Marti Noxon rules. She made Buffy what Buffy is.
Unknown said…
I loved James Garner in The Rockford Files (and pretty much anything else he did). It'd be great if they could do justice to a remake. It'll be tough though. I wonder how Garner feels about this new project. Any chance of a cameo?
wooster182 said…
A new Rockford Files??? Matt Keeslar should definitely have Garner's part.

Popular posts from this blog

Katie Lee Packs Her Knives: Breaking News from Bravo's "Top Chef"

The android has left the building. Or the test kitchen, anyway. Top Chef 's robotic host Katie Lee Joel, the veritable "Uptown Girl" herself (pictured at left), will NOT be sticking around for a second course of Bravo's hit culinary competition. According to a well-placed insider, Joel will "not be returning" to the show. No reason for her departure was cited. Unfortunately, the perfect replacement for Joel, Top Chef judge and professional chef Tom Colicchio, will not be taking over as the reality series' host (damn!). Instead, the show's producers are currently scouring to find a replacement for Joel. Top Chef 's second season was announced by Bravo last month, but no return date has been set for the series' ten-episode sophomore season. Stay tuned as this story develops. UPDATE (6/27): Bravo has now confirmed the above story .

BuzzFeed: Meet The TV Successor To "Serial"

HBO's stranger-than-fiction true crime documentary The Jinx   — about real estate heir Robert Durst — brings the chills and thrills missing since Serial   wrapped up its first season. Serial   obsessives: HBO's latest documentary series is exactly what you've been waiting for.   The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst , like Sarah Koenig's beloved podcast, sifts through old documents, finds new leads from fresh interviews, and seeks to determine just what happened on a fateful day in which the most foul murder was committed. And, also like  Serial  before it,  The Jinx may also hold no ultimate answer to innocence or guilt. But that seems almost beside the point; such investigations often remain murky and unclear, and guilt is not so easy a thing to be judged. Instead, this upcoming six-part tantalizing murder mystery, from director Andrew Jarecki ( Capturing the Friedmans ), is a gripping true crime story that unfolds with all of the speed of a page-turner; it

BuzzFeed: "The Good Wife Is The Best Show On Television Right Now"

The CBS legal drama, now in its sixth season, continually shakes up its narrative foundations and proves itself fearless in the process. Spoilers ahead, if you’re not up to date on the show. At BuzzFeed, you can read my latest feature, " The Good Wife Is The Best Show On Television Right Now," in which I praise CBS' The Good Wife and, well, hail it as the best show currently on television. (Yes, you read that right.) There is no need to be delicate here: If you’re not watching The Good Wife, you are missing out on the best show on television. I won’t qualify that statement in the least — I’m not talking about the best show currently airing on broadcast television or outside of cable or on premium or however you want to sandbox this remarkable show. No, the legal drama is the best thing currently airing on any channel on television. That The Good Wife is this perfect in its sixth season is reason to truly celebrate. Few shows embrace complexity and risk-taking in t