Now that The Wire’s gone, what am I gonna watch?
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- March
- 16
The best bet, I think, for fans of the dearly departed The Wire is David Simon and Ed Burns’ latest venture, Generation Kill.
Set to air sometime this summer (all the site says right now is “July”), the seven-episode miniseries is about “the new face of American war.” It’s based on the book by a Rolling Stone writer who spent two months embedded with the Marines 1st Reconnaissance Battalion. Simon and Burns wrote the screenplay and produced, but they’re not directing. That’s left to two Brits.
Then, Entourage will be back (yay!) in September (would have been June if not for the strike). Original plans to satirize the strike, according to E!Online’s Watch with Kristin, have been scrapped. Plus, when they return, our boy Johnny Drama’s show will have shot 54 eps and Eric will have THREE clients (including Vince, I assume) and his very own assistant, Kristin says. Show creator Doug Ellin says he has four more seasons of our boys in mind, a total of eight seasons, Kristin said.
Then, there’s a bunch of other shows that HBO has in recent weeks announced it’s picking up.
The cable network has partnered with the Weinstein Co. (the guys who started Miramax back in the day) and the BBC to produce The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.
It’s based on a series of novels by Alexander McCall Smith. The two-hour pilot already has been filmed, in Botswana. Another 13 one-hour episodes will begin filming this summer.
Here’s how HBO described the books:
“The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency” is a poignant and passionate book series chronicling the adventures of Precious Ramotswe, the eminently sensible and wise proprietor of the only female-owned detective agency in Botswana. Aided by her highly efficient yet rather peculiar secretary Mma Makutsi, Mma Ramotswe investigates cases, helps people solve problems in their lives, and begins a special friendship with the highly respectable owner of a local garage.
Grammy winner Jill Scott stars.
Then there’s Driving Around with Joni, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It’s “about an eccentric, successful 40-year-old widow” who “spends her days driving around Los Angeles with her French bulldog, looking for meaning in her life after the sudden death of her husband.
Previously announced pickups are David Milch’s new “gritty cop drama” Last of the Ninth (how about going back to Deadwood, instead?) and Darren Star’s Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl, a comedy “about relationships and sexuality.”
Will I watch any of these? I have to say that, right off the bat, only Generation Kill really appeals to me. Last of the Ninth could be good, but I have to decide if I want to check out a cop drama and if I’m still ticked off at Milch for how Deadwood ended. Or didn’t, as the case may be.
Anyone else?
Image courtesy of HBO.
This entry was posted
on Sunday, March 16th, 2008 at 3:46 pm by Amy Vernon.
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And, there’s Alan Ball’s new show, True Blood, which is in production and should be airing sometime this year. I heard three episodes were completed before the strike, so I could easily see that getting a Fall launch.
You’re absolutely right. I’d totally forgotten about that one, and I think it should be excellent. Besides Ball’s pedigree, Anna Paquin is also on board to play the lead, Sookie. I’ll have to look it up and see if I can find out when it’s supposed to air. Thanks, Patrick!