The Hollywood Reporter is today reporting that Joe Eszterhas will be returning to Hollywood for his next project based on the Virgin of Guadalupe, an icon of the Virgin Mary that supposedly appeared to a Mexican peasant in the 16th century.

This is a bit of a change of pace from his usual sexually charged material, but I don’t care.  I’m a massive fan of Eszterhas so in my opinion any Eszterhas is better than no Eszterhas.

Now if only he could convince Paul Verhoeven to direct it I’d be in heaven.  Maybe they could even talk about the canned sequel to Showgirls they planned on making.

(source = The Hollywood Reporter)

The original British cast

Written by: Drew Pearce & Jeff Greenstein
Plot/Info: Superheroes are real.  They interact in society just like regular people.  The show follows four friends who are B-list “capes” and frequent the only superhero bar in New York called “The Watchtower.”  The show is an adaptation of a British show which aired last year on ITV2.

I’m a pretty big fan of the original British version of the show, with its dry humour and great premise, so I was quite excited to hear that the show was being adapted for the US.  In my mind it was gonna be another great adaptation like The Office, but despite having the original creator Drew Pearce involved it unfortunately all seems to fall a bit flat.  The great thing about the original version is that the whole point of the show is to illustrate that being a superhero isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be, and that there are still class divisions within that segment of society.  The tone of the original show seemed to fit this much better than this script has done.

There have been changes to the characters in the adaptation, although I can’t figure out why they felt the need to do that other than to try and make the show more of their own.  In the original version there was Alex who controlled heat, Sarah who controlled machines with her voice, Don who could see 60 seconds into the future, Jenny who had super-strength, and Devlin who was the alpha-male #1 superhero.  The US version changes the majority of these, there’s now Pete who controls the cold, Callie who can be invisible for a limited time, Nigel who can read minds if he’s within 3 metres, Sandy who has super-strength, and Bradley who’s the alpha-male.  In addition, the bouncer/doorman at the bar has been changed from Thundermonkey (who can calls his monkeys to do his bidding) to Horseforce (who does the same but with stallions).

One of the first things that struck me when I read the script was a glaring mistake.  The title of the show comes from a sign on the outside of the bar which reads “”NO MASKS, NO POWERS, NO HEROICS” yet there’s this action almost directly under this:

It seems pretty important to me that this integral element of the show should be maintained and not disregarded almost immediately.  Maybe it’s just an oversight, but it’s a pretty damn big one wouldn’t you say.

The only saving grace of the script is the fact that Don/Nigel is still gay, and is British to boot, in the US version.  I’m assuming they did this in order to appeal to a wider audience and to play off his accent and demeanour in combination with his sexual orientation, but the result is still not that great and the character, whilst essentially the same as the original version of the show, is not as well written.  Overall he seems to lack the biting edge that he has in the British version.  The other main downfall of the script is that it’s just not funny.  In fact, this was the only section which I thought was any good:

Ultimately I think it was a good decision that ABC declined to pick up the show as this will leave all of us who are/were interested in the premise to seek out the superior British version when it becomes available on DVD.

Final Grade:  C- (I could have rated it lower, but I still like the whole premise of the show)

Simon Pegg

GENRE: comedy/action

PLOT:
After attending the San Diego Comic-con, two British nerds travel across America to visit Area 51.  Along the way they encounter an alien named Paul who enlists their help to travel north.

I absolutely LOVE Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.  They were awesome in their first project, Spaced, and they continued that excellence through Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.  Pegg can currently be seen playing Scotty in JJ Abrams reboot of Star Trek.  I first heard about Paul around August 2008 on AICN and have really been waiting for more information on it ever since, which is why it was such a surprise for me to receive it today.  Needless to say, I quickly stopped reading Grand Theft Auto and sunk my teeth into the script.

Put simply, it’s f’ing great.  It’s obviously very funny, there are some great Back to the Future references, fun action scenes, and even a debate about evolution and intelligent design between Paul and Ruth.  There’s literally nothing I dislike about this script.  Nothing.  That may be because I’m easily pleased when it comes to films/scripts, or because of my admiration of Pegg and Frost, and whilst these things may be true, there is simply no denying that Paul is a great, silly, fun, and caring film.  My reviews are never that insightful to begin with, but it’s especially hard when I enjoy something as much as I enjoyed this, it just turns into 300 words of me gushing about how great it is.

Here’s just a taster of the Back to the Future references:

Pros:

• Everything

Cons:

• Nothing

Final Grade: A

DATE NIGHT – Josh Klausner
DEATH AT A FUNERAL – Chris Rock & Ayesha Carr
THE GILMORES OF BEVERLY HILLS – Chris Rock & Ali LeRoi
GREENBERG – Noah Baumbach
THE HARDY MEN – Ron Parker
PAUL – Simon Pegg & Nick Frost

PAUL is real, I’m reading it now and hopefully will have a review up soon.

© 20th Century Fox

Some nice scripts found their way to me today.  One of which I’m pretty excited to read (hint: it stars Ben Stiller),  Thanks to those who sent them to me.  If anyone’s reading this and has something to donate, you can do it through the contact form on the about/contact page.  Thanks.

• ALICE – Linda Woolverton (02/23/07)
• GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST – Jon Lucas & Scott Moore and Jeff Nathanson, David Diamond & David Weissman (01/25/08)
• NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN – Robert Ben Garant & Thomas Lennon and Scott Frank (11/04/07)

BACK – Dean Widenmann
EASTWICK – Maggie Friedman
EMPIRE STATE – Michael Seitzman
THE FORGOTTEN – Gerald Di Pego, Eric Roth & Zak Penn
HAPPY TOWN – Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec & Scott Rosenberg
HOUSE RULES – Michael Seitzman
MASTERWORK – Paul T. Scheuring
SONS OF TUSCON – Greg Bratman & Tommy Dewey
THREE RIVERS – Carol Barbee
UNTITLED HEMINGSON LEGAL DRAMEDY
WASHINGTON FIELD – Jim Clemente & Tim Clemente and Edward Allen Bernero

Jason Biggs

According to Nikke Finke, this is the younger-skewing sitcom written by Mitchell Hurwitz and Jim Vallely, and starring Jason Biggs, that CBS thinks could do well paired with The Big Bang Theory. “The network is happy with the way it came in.” Good thing, too, because this is CBS’ biggest commitment and there’s a giant penalty. Five scripts are already in.

I’m not gonna bother with a full review of the script because frankly it was pretty terrible.  Call me a stickler, but I think a sitcom should actually be funny, and this one isn’t.

I’m sure the casting of Jason Biggs will go towards attracting viewership should it make the schedule, and I’m equally sure that it will appeal to those less demanding of their sitcoms, but for me it’s an utter failure.  It’s almost like the exact opposite of Arrested Development, not only is it not funny, but the actual family dynamic of the characters is reversed.  They’re all in love with each other, caring, supportive, and kissy. Yeah, that’s right, the whole pilot is about kissing between brother and brother, son and mother, and son and father, and none of it is funny.

Now I know you shouldn’t judge a show by it’s pilot episode, it should be given time to grow and adapt, but my standards for comedy are a little higher than most peoples and the script for Community (reviewed here), has shown that a good sitcom can be written right from the get-go.  I often wonder why exec’s can’t fill their lineup with top-to-bottom quality shows, maybe it’s because not all of the pilots are good, or maybe it’s because they choose shitty ones over better ones, but in the end it’s just disheartening to think that this show will probably make it onto the airwaves and garner better ratings than quality sitcoms like The Office or Parks and Recreation.  After Sit Down, Shut Up and now this, it’s seeming more and more likely that Hurwitz’s success on Arrested Development was fluke more than anything else.

Final Grade: D

Chevy Chase

First of all a little background. NBC’s “Must See TV” branding first entered into usage during the 1982-83 TV schedule when the programming included Fame, Cheers, Taxi and Hill Street Blues, a lineup that whilst I was not an actual viewer (I was 4 years old at the time), I would consider to be “Must See TV”. Skip forward 26 years and the lineup on Thursday nights may not necessarily have the historical significance that it did back in 1982, but save for a couple of exceptions, it certainly has an abundance of quality.

NBC’s current Thursday schedule is My Name is Earl, Parks and Recreation, The Office, 30 Rock, and Southland. I soured on Earl a long time ago and I’ve yet to watch Southland, but the middle pack of shows are fantastic and only promise to get better. So, whilst NBC may no longer use the “Must See TV” moniker, instead settling on “Comedy Night Done Right”, I think that the current Thursday schedule is the closest that NBC has come to “Must See TV” since 1996-97 when the schedule consisted of Friends, The Single Guy, Seinfeld, Suddenly Susan, and ER.

This brings me to the actual topic for this post, NBC’s new comedy Community. I’m hopeful that NBC will finally pull the plug on Earl and shift the lineup a little on Thursdays, especially with Leno being on 5 nights a week from 10pm. After reading the pilot script for Community my dream lineup would be Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office, and 30 Rock; Leno would really only be a bonus if a decent guest was on as I’ve grown tired of his whole routine (bring on Conan in 3+ weeks). I’m not sure if Community would fit at 8pm as it will probably be a little rawer than Earl is (in content not quality), but I like the pairing of Parks and The Office because of their similarities.

So, Community is written by Dan Harmon and tells the story of a bunch of students at Greendale Community College. They are:

• Jeff (Joel McHale) – A disbarred lawyer who has to go to Greendale because he has a foreign law degree
• Pierce (Chevy Chase) – 50-ish awkward/creepy guy (not really an apt description but it’s hard to pin down)
• Abed (Danny Pudi) – Asperger’s suffering Arab
• Britta (Gillian Jacobs) – The object of Jeff’s affections
• Duncan (John Oliver) – Psychology Professor who was one of Jeff’s old clients
• Troy (Donald Glover) – 18 year old jock who lost his scholarship
• Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) – shy 40-ish mother
• Annie (Alison Brie) – 18 year old who went to High School with Troy but dropped out

As would be expected, the pilot basically sets the stage for the introduction of all these characters and lays the groundwork for the group dynamic that will be the basis of the show for as long as it runs. It’s actually sharper than I expected it to be, much more in line with The Office than other standard sitcoms like Two and a Half Men. This seems to be a trend with NBC lately and I must say that I like it. I like smart comedies that don’t dumb themselves down to the lowest common denominator, and that’s almost certainly why I think Arrested Development, Seinfeld, and The Office are among the best shows ever.

The script is only 34 pages long and I’m not the fastest reader in the world, but I ripped through this one faster than I typically would (I won’t say how long it took at the risk of being mocked), and to me that indicates that I was really into it. There was a real nice flow to the story and the introduction of the characters, even ones on the periphery like the coach or the hilarious old black woman. In fact, the old black lady was used to great effect as a nice nod to the old sitcom convention of having an older and wiser character guide the central character.

Save for some private exchanges between Jeff and Duncan, or Jeff and Britta, the sneak peek promo which NBC released a few days ago pretty much covers the entire first episode. The extent of the material contained in the promo no doubt helped me get into the script that much more, because I was able to attach a face to each character, and with some (Chevy Chase, Joel McHale and John Oliver) I had a good idea of how the lines would be delivered, which only ended up making them better.

Speaking of Chevy Chase, I can’t tell you how excited I am to have him back on TV in a potentially quality show. I’ve been a fan of his for a long time, and loved him in Foul Play, Caddyshack, Fletch, Spies Like Us, and even Nothing But Trouble. I really hope that NBC gives Community the time to develop that it did for The Office, 30 Rock, and now Parks and Recreation.

Final Grade: A-