NY Observer > Showtime

It's Showtime for Studio 54 Series

Gillian Reagan — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:26:55 -0400

Showtime is delving into the depths of the 70's with its new show Studio. While still in development, producers say the project will look at New York City nightlife through the lens of its oft-heralded dark heart: Studio 54.

"The show is less about the history of Studio 54 than it is about New York in the late '70s, what people were going through, the political and social issues," writer Chad Hodge told the Hollywood Reporter. "Studio 54 is the backdrop for exploring that."

Studio won't be another docu-drama like the movie 54. The show will use Studio 54's co-founder Steve Rubell as a fictional character and recount the months leading to the club's April 1977 opening, according to the Reporter. read more »

It's Showtime for Edie Falco and Weeds

Gillian Reagan — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:27:48 -0400

Showtime gave the greenlight to their new comedy Nurse Jackie, starring Sopranos First Lady Edie Falco. They're also giving the First Lady of MILFs, Mary-Louise Parker, two more seasons of Weeds.

Ms. Falco's series will begin production in New York in the fall. Episodes will air in the spring or early summer 2009, according to Variety. She'll star as a New York City nurse working in an "urban" hospital and juggling her personal life.

"Nothing is more thrilling for us than bringing Edie Falco to Showtime in this unique, quirky, touching comedy/drama," said Showtime's President of Entertainment, Robert Greenblatt at a press conference Friday. read more »

Showtime Signs Deal with Weinsteins

Gillian Reagan — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:49:25 -0400

Prepare to see lots of Weinstein movies on Showtime soon. Starting with its 2009 release schedule, including Nine with Daniel Day-Lewis and Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards "spaghetti western," the pay channel has signed an exclusive seven-year theatrical-movie-output deal with the Weinsteins. (By the way, Brad Pitt and Mr. Tarantino are allegedly meeting in France today to discuss a Bastards collaboration).

Showtime is thumbing their noses at Paramount Pictures, MGM and Lionsgate, which are canceling their output deal with the pay channel and starting their own separate TV network, set to kick off late in 2009.

Variety reports:

"This deal reinforces a strategy that will give us a diverse slate of films to go with our original series," said Matt Blank, chairman and CEO of Showtime Networks. read more »

Showtime Greenlights Clooney's Fall

Gillian Reagan — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:51:04 -0400

George Clooney's production company will produce a new half-hour comedy for Showtime called The Fall of Bob. The lead character, Bob (obviously), will narrate his life through flashbacks as he propels himself from a building. Morbid stuff. Variety is reporting that Showtime has been busy courting the big names since greenlighting the Steven Spielberg-produced, Diablo Cody-penned United States of Tara.

The channel also just piloted the darkly comedic "The End of Steve," from Matthew Perry and Peter Tolan .

Ho-time: Cable Channel Hard-Sells Belle du Bore

Hillary Frey — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:18:43 -0400

When news broke that Eliot Spitzer had been patronizing a high-class prostitute, one thing everyone seemed to want to know was what, exactly, he’d asked his call girl to do. It was “unsafe,” in the words of “Kristen,” a.k.a. Ashley Alexandra Dupre—but could that have been an excuse she fabricated in hopes of unloading an undesirable client? Speculation was all over the map, from unprotected sex to anal to dangerous S&M to wearing socks in bed (not unsafe, sure, but certainly annoying). For a few days there, as we marveled over the amount of money earned by the girls at Emperors Club VIP and wondered over their wealthy clients and envied Ms. Dupre’s Flatiron apartment, hookers were on the brain. Are their lives better or worse than ours? At the top end, at least, their jobs actually sounded more like dating than whoring. read more »

Smithsonian Tells True Story With Showtime

Gillian Reagan — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:44:38 -0400

The Smithsonian Channel is getting all historical on us (that's just what they do!) with The True Story. They'll partner with Showtime to produce the five-hour series. It will look at the real-life roots of popular films and characters, including Indiana Jones, Ian Fleming's James Bond, Eliot Ness of Untouchables fame and the Amityville house, according to Broadcasting & Cable. We wonder what they'd have to say about Alvy Singer ...

Dexter to Air on CBS?

Gillian Reagan — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 12:30:31 -0500

With the strike on CBS's bank of crime and punishment programming is getting low. CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves announced that the network is looking to its sister channel, Showtime, to fill in the gaps. Will Dexter, the mediocre-written, yet highly addictive show about a forensics cop who moonlights as a serial killer make it to network television? read more »