Froodee

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NBC Nabs X-Files-ish Pilot ‘Echelon’

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The man who wrote the screenplay for the movie 300, Michael Gordon, has created a series that NBC‘s picked up called Echelon. Gordon will executive produce alongside Imagine Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Television.

Echelon is based on the covert database used by the U.S. for eavesdropping to watch for terrorist-related keywords in phone calls, emails, and other forms of normal communication. The show follows a team of investigators who investigate the “less than 1%” of all data that’s seemingly captured inexplicable phenomena that may be chalked up to the paranormal.

So, basically it’s The X-Files for the 21st Century.

Here’s the kicker. The team’s name is the Global Hierarchical Observation Strategy Taskforce, or…

(Wait for it…)

G.H.O.S.T.

Love the premise, but that name gives me flashbacks to S.P.E.C.T.R.E. from the old James Bond movies, and not in a good way.

‘Awkward Family Photos’ Coming to ABC

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The popular blog and book of the same name, Awkward Family Photos, is being developed into a half-hour comedy for ABC. Blog creators Mike Bender and Doug Chernack will serve as executive producers, while Moses Port and David Guarascio are showrunners.

Admittedly, the blog is entertaining. But trying to translate it into a half-hour humorous story that airs every week seems like a terrible idea.

Sheesh. First CBS airs $#*! My Dad Says, based on a Twitter account, and then signs on to develop another Twitter account called Shh… Don’t Tell Steve into a half-hour comedy. Now ABC is transforming a blog into the same format. Is Tinseltown hurting that bad for ideas? What will they snatch up next? People of Walmart?

Syfy Orders 2nd ‘Battlestar’ Spinoff

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Syfy just can’t get enough Battlestar Galactica. The acclaimed show ended its four-season run about a year ago, but prequel series Caprica is currently nearing the end of its first season, and now Syfy has ordered a pilot for a whole new BSG series, set during the early days of William Adama’s career.

Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome will follow Adama’s adventures during the first Cylon war — which takes place between the events of Caprica and the flagship series. We previously got a brief glimpse at this young adult version of the future Admiral during the two-hour TV movie Razor (and some accompanying online webisodes) when actor Nico Cortez perfectly nailed Edward James Olmos’ tics and mannerisms (pictured above). No word yet on whether or not Cortez will appear in the new show.

My excitement about this announcement is tempered by the fact that BSG‘s re-imaginer Ron Moore, will not be working on Blood & Chrome. His producing partner David Eick is onboard, but Eick’s track record without Moore by his side is spotty at best (Bionic Woman). Eick describes the show as “maintaining the themes of politics, social propaganda, and the timeless question:  what does it mean to be human? — Blood & Chrome will also return us to the authentic, relentless depiction of combat and the agony and ecstasy of human-Cylon war.”

Here’s the show’s official description:

Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome takes place in the 10th year of the first Cylon war. As the battle between humans and their creation, a sentient robotic race, rages across the 12 colonial worlds, a brash rookie viper pilot enters the fray. Ensign William Adama, barely in his 20’s and a recent Academy graduate, finds himself assigned to the newest battlestar in the Colonial fleet… the Galactica. The talented but hot-headed risk-taker soon finds himself leading a dangerous top secret mission that, if successful, will turn the tide of the decade long war in favor of the desperate fleet.

It’s also interesting to note that the character of William Adama also appears in Caprica, as a pre-teen boy. So if Blood & Chrome goes to series, we’ll have seen him depicted in three different shows at very diverse parts of his life. Has there ever been another TV character to be given three TV shows that chronicle various parts of his lifespan in this way? I can’t think of one.

Coast Guard Drama Coming from BSG’s Ron Moore

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Ron Moore, the man primarily responsible for the critically-acclaimed reimagining of Battlestar Galactica for Syfy, has had a very busy pilot season. He’s already sold District 17 to NBC (described as “an adult Harry Potter” world of wizardry), and is working on a reimagined Wild, Wild West for CBS (just announced: Moore is working alongside Deep Space Nine pal and CSI showrunner Naren Shankar on West).

Now comes the news that Moore has pitched an action-adventure series to NBC called The McCulloch, which the peacock network has picked up. The show will follow the crew of a fictional Coast Guard ship of the same name as they traverse the world’s oceans. It’s unknown if the show will attempt to film at sea or use green screen.

The McCulloch sounds pretty different than Moore’s usual genre-heavy fare, with no known elements of science fiction or fantasy. But given Battlestar Galactica‘s military vessel-like setting, it’s not a huge stretch to think of Moore setting a show on a sea vessel.

Ron Moore Reimagining ‘Wild, Wild West’

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The man who reimagined Battlestar Galactica as a dark, gritty, powerful scifi adventure has set his sights on Wild, Wild West, the old Robert Conrad western about a Secret Service agent who used high-tech (for the time) tools to fight bad guys. Not much is known about Moore’s concept for the series, other than that it’s in the earliest stages of development and will be weeks or months before he’s ready to shop it to networks.

The mind boggles at the thought of what Moore could do with another high concept franchise like this. I’d be very surprised if he didn’t lean toward some wicked cool steampunk with the technology, but more importantly, his characters will probably have a lot more depth and intensity than the lighthearted adventure of the original series.

Whatever he comes up with, it’s guaranteed to be better than that unwatchable hot mess starring Will Smith and Kevin Kline.