Robin Williams, the TV Star
Today in showbiz news: Robin Williams has a TV pilot at CBS, Ricki Lake's talk show gets the ax, and Elementary was a disappointment last night.
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Robin Williams may return to regular series television work for the first time since he was made famous by the dark paranormal drama Mork & Mindy. CBS has just picked up a pilot from David E. Kelley called Crazy Ones, which is about "a father and daughter who work together in an advertising office. It’s described as a workplace/single-camera comedy." Hm. Who could play Robin Williams's daughter? I mean, how many manic, hairy, fast-talking young actresses are there in Hollywood? Not that many! So they'll probably have to do what they always do in Hollywood: Fake it. They'll glue fur all over some starlet's back and chest and try to pass her off as the genuine article, but we'll know otherwise. We'll know. Anyway, how do we feel about the possibility of Robin Williams on our television screens every week? Doesn't it sound a little menacing? A little imposing? I don't know. He's a lot to take in a single movie, so twenty-two times a year? Yikes. That's a lot of Robin Williams. [Entertainment Weekly]
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Aw nuts. Ricki Lake's daytime talk show, The Ricki Lake Show, has been canceled after one measly season. The show, which had Ricki dealing with life issues like "you have a lot of excuses," was a poor ratings performer from the get-go, suggesting that maybe Lake's nine-year hiatus from daytime TV was too long. So, oh well. Guess we'll have to go elsewhere for riveting, important programming. [The Hollywood Reporter]
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Jason Moore, who directed the nifty little musical comedy Pitch Perfect, may soon be hired to direct Tina Fey in a movie called The Nest. Written by wonderful Saturday Night Live veteran Paula Pell, The Nest is about "two thirtysomething sisters [who] come home to find their parents’ house has been put up for sale. They spend a last wild weekend together, bonding and feuding and finally growing up." Oohh. So maybe a little drama for Tina Fey? At least some sentimentality? I know she's done it before, but this could be more substantial. That's exciting! Do this movie, everyone! [Deadline]
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Charlize Theron might be starring in the big screen adaptation of uber-hot mystery writer Gillian Flynn's second novel Dark Places. Theron would play "a woman who, at 7 years old, survived the brutal massacre of her family and testified against her brother as the murderer. Twenty-five years later, the Kill Club, a secret society obsessed with solving notorious crimes, brings her to question and confront the truth of what took place that day." Which sounds like a good, intense role for someone as good and intense as Charlize Theron. If you're keeping track, this means Theron's in Dark Places, Amy Adams is in Sharp Objects, and Reese Witherspoon is probably in Gone Girl. Those are Flynn's three books, and those are the three movie stars who will be in the movie versions. Gillian Flynn used to be a TV critic. So, I'm not jealous, I'm encouraged. That's right, encouraged. That's all. No terrible seething jealousy here, no sir. Everything's fine. Everything is just fine. [Deadline]
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CBS chose its Sherlock Holmes series Elementary for the big post-Super Bowl slot, and it appears to have been a mistake. The show, about a modern-day Holmes ordering Lucy Liu to leave various rooms all the time, only attracted 20.8 million viewers, which may sound like a lot, but when you consider that in 2010 Undercover Boss had 38.7 million viewers it ain't so good. So what happened? Well, there was probably some TV fatigue after that long power outage delay, and also probably people are sick of seeing Sherlock boss Lucy Liu around like that. Let her do something! She's a doctor for god's sake. She knows stuff. Don't just shut her up. It's infuriating. And that's probably why more people didn't watch. Because of the way Lucy Liu is treated. People care about that stuff. [Entertainment Weekly]
Though she was robbed of a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Compliance, actress Ann Dowd can at least comfort herself with the recurring role she just landed on Showtime's Masters of Sex. That's the one with Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan. (Yeah, weird cast.) She's going to play Michael Sheen's mother. She is thirteen years older than Michael Sheen. So, OK, it's not a great consolation prize. But what can you do. Other news: Linda Lavin may be coming back to TV, with Sean Hayes. My stars. [Deadline]
