or


[08/01/12 - 03:15 PM]
HBO at TCA: Rolling Stones Documentary, Larry David Movie on Tap
By Brian Ford Sullivan (TFC)

LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- HBO co-presidents Michael Lombardo and Richard Plepler kicked off their executive session at the TCA Summer Press Tour with a pair of announcements, including a Rolling Stones 50th anniversary documentary from Brett Morgen and a Larry David movie to be directed by Greg Mottola.

As for specifics, the latter won't feature David playing himself but rather "title and further details TBD" according to Plepler. Said duo were quick to affirm the movie won't prohibit a future season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm." "We always say he has essentially carte blanche with us. Don't quote us on that... but he does," Plepler said. "And if he wants to come back and do 'Curb' we'd be thrilled and now he wants to do the movie." Lombardo added, "I think he wants to do another season of 'Curb.' He has a great idea for another season of 'Curb.'"

Among the other topics:

-- "As long as he sees fit to keep creating, so will we," Plepler said about its future with "Game of Thrones" and author George R. R. Martin. Lombardo added that the same goes for "True Blood." "I think as long as it continues to be performing with the consumer, but more importantly, exciting the storytellers. I think we're there."

-- Lombardo on a proposed "Entourage" movie: "[Doug Ellin's] writing a film script and he's excited about it. I've heard a very general pitch for it and I think after we take a look at the script we will see if there's any interest... He's in the process of writing as we speak."

-- Lombardo also gave a status check on a few other of its projects: "The Day the Laughter Stopped" ("We have a writer. It's in development... I just don't know where we are in terms of the script."), "Da Brick" ("We piloted a show last year... with John Ridley and Spike Lee, it didn't work.") and "The Kids Are All Right" ("We just got [a draft] in a couple of weeks ago and we're continuing to develop with her.").

-- "It was very difficult material and I thought they did a beautiful job with it but [it] didn't warrant going forward," Plepler said about their small screen take on "The Corrections." Lombardo added, "It was a very challenging decision for us. But ultimately we decided we felt as if we shouldn't go forward to series on that pilot."

-- Lombardo revealed that, as a result of canceling "Luck," its comedies "Girls" and "Enlightened" won't be joined by a drama in January. "We did not have a backup plan so we did have a hole in January."

-- "They're sitting down right now to pitch an idea that they have for the season, but Danny [McBride] and Jody [Hill] are just sitting down now," Lombardo said about the new season of "Eastbound & Down." As for "Treme," Lombardo indicated, "We're absolutely having conversations with David [Simon] now about should there be a fourth season and what that season might look like because there are certain exigencies of producing a show like that in New Orleans."

-- Plepler on how he feels about "The Newsroom": "There's only one Aaron Sorkin and we're very proud that he's working with us, very proud that he's going to do another season." He would later note that Scott Rudin, despite no longer having an overall deal with the network, will remain an executive producer. "I think the question was just capacity," Plepler said. "He wanted to move on some things that perhaps we weren't ready to move on so we felt that it was right to give him that flexibility."

-- Lombardo on how its Matthew McConaughey/Woody Harrelson-drama "True Detective" compares to "The Wire" and "The Sopranos": "This is light years away from each of those shows... [it's] set in the South, it's very much a character piece." Adding, "The idea right now is that this particular narrative ends after the [eight] episodes are completed."

-- Plepler and Lombardo both affirmed "The Life & Times of Tim" is done for good. Lombardo said that as far as animation goes, "We never really had a strategy, we respond to individual shows that came in. I think it's hard to figure out how an animated show would fit on [our] Sunday night lineup but I think we're always open to it on Friday, Friday nights." Lombardo likewise addressed the annual "Deadwood" movie question, saying, "David [Milch] is busy at work on not only a new pilot for us but he's got movies and mini-series that have caught his interest right now."

-- And in other odds and ends, Plepler said he's thrilled about the success of HBO Go however "remember the streaming audience is still very small, it's probably about a little over 5%. But the streaming audience combined with our on-demand audience creeps closer to 25%." Lombardo also indicated they won't be expanding beyond Sunday nights for the foreseeable future. "At this point we're Sunday night... I think what we've discovered was that our viewers, we've spent years directing them to Sunday night."

-- Lombardo on the broadcast networks being shut out of the Best Drama category at the Emmys this year: "I think it's anomalous to this year... It's hard to argue why 'The Good Wife' wouldn't fit in that group of shows." As for the broadcast networks' upcoming crop, Lombardo said, "I thought 'The Following' was a well-executed show."





  [august 2012]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
   


· CLEAR HISTORY (HBO)
· CORRECTIONS, THE (HBO)
· CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM (HBO)
· DA BRICK (HBO)
· DAY THE LAUGHTER STOPPED, THE (HBO)
· DEADWOOD (HBO)
· EASTBOUND & DOWN (HBO)
· ENLIGHTENED (HBO)
· ENTOURAGE (HBO)
· FOLLOWING, THE (FOX)
· GAME OF THRONES (HBO)
· GIRLS (HBO)
· GOOD WIFE, THE (CBS)
· KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, THE (HBO)
· LIFE & TIMES OF TIM, THE (HBO)
· LUCK (HBO)
· NEWSROOM, THE (HBO)
· SOPRANOS, THE (HBO)
· TREME (HBO)
· TRUE BLOOD (HBO)
· TRUE DETECTIVE (HBO)
· WIRE, THE (HBO)





[07/03/25 - 02:33 PM]
ABC News Same-Day Primetime Special "Verdict: The Diddy Trial" Is No. 1 in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54
Versus the competition in the time period, "Verdict: The Diddy Trial" outperformed NBC by +40% in Adults 18-49 (212,000 vs. 151,000) and +22% in Adults 25-54.

[07/03/25 - 10:00 AM]
Video: "In the Lost Lands" - Official Trailer - Hulu
In the ghostly wilderness of the Lost Lands, a sorceress (Milla Jovovich) and mysterious drifter (Dave Bautista) must join together in order to survive against the supernatural forces which threaten their world.

[07/03/25 - 09:01 AM]
"Digman!" Season Two to Premiere Immediately After "South Park" Wednesday, July 23rd at 10:30PM ET/PT on Comedy Central
Season two will feature guest voice appearances from a wide array of fan-favorite talent.

[07/03/25 - 08:01 AM]
Nat Geo's Nine-Time Emmy Award-Winning Series "Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller" Returns with Powerful New Season Exploring the World's Deadliest Underground Markets
The new season kicks off with a groundbreaking look into the operations of Mexican cartels inside the United States.

[07/03/25 - 06:12 AM]
Video: "The Idaho Student Murders" - Official Trailer - Peacock Original
A feature documentary focuses its lens on the pre-trial case against Bryan Kohberger, a young criminology student accused of brutally stabbing to death four University of Idaho coeds.

[07/03/25 - 02:01 AM]
Video: "The Assassin" Sets Premiere Date in the UK and Ireland with Explosive New Trailer
Retired assassin Julie (Keeley Hawes) is reunited with her estranged son, Edward (Freddie Highmore), but her dangerous past begins to catch up with them.

[07/03/25 - 01:01 AM]
Video: "Catalog" - Official Trailer - Netflix
A recently widowed workaholic clumsily navigates life with his kids, guided by his late wife's online tips. Can he ace this crash course in parenthood?

[07/03/25 - 12:01 AM]
Video: "Diary of a Ditched Girl" - Meet the Cast - Netflix
Here they are: the boys of Malmö. Watch "Diary of a Ditched Girl" September 11 to see if she manages to get a second date with one of them.

[07/02/25 - 07:01 PM]
Video: "The Nice Guy" - Teaser Trailer - Disney+
Lee Dongwook is back and this time, it's romantic.

[07/02/25 - 06:44 PM]
Tyler Perry's "Divorced Sistas" Quickly Rises to Become BET+'s Most Watched Original Series in Platform History
Just halfway through the eight-episode season, existing subscribers and new fans of the show have boosted the drama series to the most-watched series premiere on BET+ in just three weeks.

[07/02/25 - 05:01 PM]
Video: "Wall to Wall" - Official Trailer - Netflix
A man who poured his life savings into a new apartment discovers its walls are full of disturbing noises, hostile neighbors and unsettling secrets.

[07/02/25 - 03:04 PM]
ABC News Announces "Verdict: The Diddy Trial," Airing Wednesday, July 2, at 10 P.M. on ABC, Streaming Next Day on Hulu
A verdict has been reached in the trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs, who has been found guilty on two of five counts.

[07/02/25 - 02:38 PM]
Hallmark Channel Earns #1 Most-Watched Network on Weekends Throughout June with "Passport to Love" Programming Event
"Passport to Love" helped elevate Hallmark Channel to be the #1 most-watched network on weekends throughout the month of June.

[07/02/25 - 01:30 PM]
"New Amsterdam" Creator David Schulner Joins Creative Team of New FOX Drama Series "Memory of a Killer" as an Executive Producer and Co-Showrunner
Schulner will be an executive producer of the series alongside Ed Whitmore, Tracey Malone, and Cathy Schulman.

[07/02/25 - 11:52 AM]
ESPN "Sunday Night Baseball Presented by Capital One" Schedule Update: American League Leading Detroit Tigers to Visit Texas Rangers on July 20
Through 14 games, "Sunday Night Baseball" is averaging 1,750,000 million viewers, up 11 percent from last year.