TELEVISION
Plans in place for new TV show set in Buffalo
PASADENA, Calif.—Paul Blart killed a Fox TV project set in Buffalo, but another one is on the way.
At a party here during the national TV critics meetings, Fox Entertainment president Kevin Reilly said that the surprising success of the movie “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” resulted in the network passing on “Warlosky,” a potential series about an ex-cop who became a security guard in a Buffalo mall, which was co-written by Buffalo native and 1996 Nichols School graduate Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka.
“We thought the movie may come and go,” said Reilly. “It ended up being a surprise hit and nobody on the director side wanted to appear ripping off ‘Paul Blart.’”
Reilly was unaware that “Paul Blart” was co-written by Buffalo native Nick Bakay, who writes and stars in the Fox series, “ ’Til Death.” Bakay and Gatewood are both graduates of Nichols School, though decades apart.
“Our show had nothing to do with ‘Paul Blart,’ “ said Reilly.
Reilly added that Fox has signed a deal with Gatewood and Tanaka to create another series. “Those writers are very funny writers and really talented,” said Reilly.
“We’ve got another show set in Buffalo that we’re working on right now though,” added Reilly. He said that Mark Brazill, the Dunkirk native who used his childhood experiences to co-create “That ’70s Show,” sent a “fabulous” script that is set in Buffalo.
“It is about working class kids coming of age,” said Reilly. “They are all a bunch of friends. They all hold day jobs, odd jobs to pay the bills. It has gotten some of ‘That ’70s Show’ flavor and is really sharp. Mark is from Buffalo and it has a lot of Buffalo flavor.”
The tentative title certainly has some flavor, “Rednecks and Romeos.”
“I think we’re going to change the title,” said Reilly with a smile.
He said he thinks the comedy pilot will be made this summer. In the script, one character’s father works for a car dealership and is laid off.
“He can’t accept it,” said Reilly. “He was a guy who was well off. That has a very comedic element.”
It sounds like the pilot also speaks to the nation’s economy. “It does, in a relevant way,” said Reilly.
“In the way, ‘That ’70s Show’ was the discovery of some really fresh talent (Ashton Kutcher, Topher Grace, Laura Prepon, Mina Kunis, Wilmer Valderrama, Danny Masterson) and that is what this is going to end up being,” said Reilly.
“What gives it a little more specificity is they are in Buffalo, they are sort of families who are getting by for the most part. Except for one character, whose father actually owns a number of companies that all their fathers sort of work for. In her family situation, she seems to have it all but in some way she has less than they do ... Mark has gotten back to ‘That ’70s Show’ feel with a whole new veneer to it.”
‘Bones’ revelations
At the same party, Buffalo native Stephen Nathan, a writer- producer on “Bones,” revealed some plans for the Fox hit that co-stars Buffalo native David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel.
The series picks up where it left off last season with Booth’s (Boreanaz) recovery from brain surgery appearing to draw him and Brennan (Deschannel) closer.
“In a way, we’re resetting the template for the series and the Booth and Brennan relationship,” said Nathan, “knowing that they both share this secret — her writing a book about them being together and him having this fantasy that they were together.”
In the season finale, Brennan was writing a novel that had her and Booth running a nightclub while they were married and she was pregnant. Booth, meanwhile, was hallucinating. Her novel and his fantasy were played out on the show.
“That was her book, but it was also his fantasy,” said Nathan. “So they shared this thing. We’re starting out the season with Booth kind of recovering from that and going back to work and the two of them joining forces again but also having this new piece of information that they both are keeping to themselves.
“Their relationship is a bit more charged ... And the secondary characters are going to have a bit more importance than they have in the past.”
And what does he mean by a “bit more charged?” “There is a bit more sexual tension between them and we’ll kind of explore that.”
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