Showtime

Mondo Times editors    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 4:19pm on Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

Showtime and acclaimed television and film producer John Wells (ER, The West Wing, Southland) are bringing "Shameless," the long running British TV series to American television starring William H. Macy (Door to Door, Fargo, Pleasantville, The Cooler).

Showtime has ordered a pilot for this one-hour drama tracing the lives of a very unconventional family which will be executive produced by Wells and the series' original creator Paul Abbott, one of Britain's most critically and commercially successful television producers. The pilot will be shot in December.

Mondo Times editors    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 10:04pm on Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

September 30, 2009: "Friends" star Matt LeBlanc and creators David Crane ("Friends," "The Class") and Jeffrey Klarik ("The Class," "Mad About You") have teamed up on a fresh new send-up of the television business entitled "Episodes," a single-camera comedy series about a British couple whose hit UK show is turned into a dumbed-down American sitcom starring LeBlanc (as himself), it was announced today by Showtime President of Entertainment Robert Greenblatt.

Crane and Klarik created the series and Jimmy Mulville will also serve as executive producer through his successful Hat Trick production company ("Whose Line Is It Anyway?," "The Kumars at No. 42", "Worst Week"). Episodes, a co-production of Showtime and the BBC, will begin shooting the six episodes in London and Hollywood this winter for a 2010 debut on Showtime and BBC Two.

"What a thrill to have two giants of the comedy world like Klarik and Crane to satirize what they know best: the making (or un-making) of art," says Greenblatt. "We jumped at the chance to get involved with this cock-eyed look at network television told through the eyes of unsuspecting British producers who don't know what hit them when they enter the lion's den of Hollywood. And Matt LeBlanc -- wryly sending up his own image -- is icing on the cake. This show complements our eclectic and critically-acclaimed line-up of half-hour comedies beautifully."

"Jeffrey and David have a great idea -- I love it," said Matt LeBlanc. "I am really excited to be working with Showtime and the BBC. And I am so glad I got the part, seeing someone else play Matt LeBlanc would have been devastating."

When a successful British husband-and-wife comedy team are lured by Hollywood to produce a new version of their hit series for a stateside audience, they're initially thrilled at the prospects. But they soon realize what the American execs have in store for their precious show -- including replacing the erudite British lead with the quintessential comedy star, Matt LeBlanc -- and begin to sink deeper into the quicksand that is the TV business. Before long it's clear that not just the couple's show is at stake, but perhaps even their marriage.

Mondo Times editors    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 4:33pm on Saturday, August 29th, 2009

Laura Linney is coming to television in a new Showtime half-hour series about a woman diagnosed with cancer called "The C Word" (working title). The new production was announced on August 27, 2009 by Showtime Networks President of Entertainment Robert Greenblatt. A pilot has been ordered and will be shot in the fall.

Linney will star in and executive produce the program, which is about the emotional ups and downs of a suburban wife and mother forced to face reality yet also find the light side in a dark situation. It is a journey about how to seize the day.

"How one lives fully while being tested by the unpredictability of life, and what one learns in the process, is always filled with endless possibilities for an actor," says Linney. "I am very excited to tackle such potentially rich, funny and complicated material."

Linney is one of Hollywood's most versatile and celebrated actors. She began her career in the theatre where she has appeared in the award-winning plays Six Degrees of Separation, The Crucible, Sight Unseen and Hedda Gabler. This January, Linney is set to star in a limited engagement of Time Stands Still, directed by Donald Margulies, at Manhattan Theatre Club. On the small screen, she was first noted for her turn in the PBS series Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City. She earned Emmys for her work on Frasier and in Showtime's Wild Iris. She starred most recently in the HBO mini-series John Adams - her performance as Abigail Adams earned her Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Awards. She has appeared in the movies Kinsey, The Savages, The Truman Show, Love Actually, Mystic River and The Squid And The Whale, among others.

Currently, Linney is filming "The Details," which was written and directed by Jacob Estes and also stars Tobey McGuire.

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 1:20pm on Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

Showtime has renewed its new dark comedy series Nurse Jackie, starring Edie Falco for a second season. The announcement was made on June 10, 2009 by Robert Greenblatt, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc. Production of 12 new episodes will begin this fall in New York City.

Nurse Jackie premiered on Showtime on Monday, June 8, 2009. It is a half-hour dark comedy starring Edie Falco stars as Jackie Peyton, a strong-willed and brilliant -- but very flawed -- emergency room nurse in a New York City hospital. A lapsed Catholic with an occasional weakness for Vicodin and Adderall to get her through the days, Jackie keeps the hospital balanced with her own kind of justice. Every day is a high wire act of juggling patients, doctors, fellow nurses and her own indiscretions.