Lauren Graham, Alex O'Loughlin and Katee Sackhoff
With ABC, CBS, Fox and the CW holding their upfront presentations during the week of May 18 — and NBC set to reveal the rest of its own 2009-10 plan on May 19 — the pilots for a slew of prospective series are getting their final looks.
Among the surprising let-downs? NBC took a pass on David E. Kelley's Legally Mad — and owes Warner Bros. TV a seven-figure penalty payment for doing so. It also turned down Dick Wolf's Lost & Found, a cop drama starring Katee Sackhoff.
Though there has been talk in the trades that NBC might avoid the Legally Mad penalty by instead granting Warner Bros.' Chuck a pick-up, the action-comedy's creator ...
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Hugh Bonneville
Last week we learned of Charity Wakefield being tapped to star in David E. Kelley's new legal drama, Legally Mad. And now, her character has a new daddy.
Hugh Bonneville has been cast to play Gordon Hamm, who owns the law firm where his twentysomething daughter (Wakefield) decides to take a job, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
"Gordon Hamm is based on the true story of a real-life attorney who lives in my head," Kelley said. "Sharp litigator, a lot of fun and, deep down, a mess." So kind of like a male Ally McBeal. ...
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Charity Wakefield, John Seda
David E. Kelley is Mad about a little-known British actress.
The prolific writer/producer has recruited Charity Wakefield to headline his new quirky NBC series, Legally Mad, The Hollywood Reporter reports.
Wakefield, whose credits include BBC's 2008 adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, will play Brady Hamm, a young woman who ...
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Kristin Chenoweth
And the slim hopes of Pushing Daisies fans wilt just a bit more.
David E. Kelley has plucked Kristin Chenoweth to co-star in Legally Mad, the Boston Legal creator's new series for NBC.
A quirky legal drama (get out!) revolving around a woman who takes a job at her father's Chicago law firm, Legally Mad finds Chenoweth playing ...
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James Spader and William Shatner, Boston Legal
Boston Legal closed its doors for the final time Monday night, ending a five-year run and a two-decade-old era in the process. With its two-hour bow, Legal's goodbye means it'll be the first time in 22 years that television is without a topical David E. Kelley program on air.
But it didn't have to end this way.
"ABC didn't want us back," Kelley told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "It's as simple as that. They didn't ...
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David E. Kelley
NBC is looking for a little old blood to help give them a boost.
The Peacock beat out CBS in a bidding war for David E. Kelley's new legal dramedy and has already given the project series commitment, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Kelley, the Emmy-winning creator of The Practice, Ally McBeal, and current ABC hit Boston Legal, worked for NBC more than 20 years ago on L.A. Law.
Get the details on the new show after the jump.
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Make no mistake, ABC is high on giving Life on Mars — its long-in-the-works adaptation of the BBC series — a slot on its fall schedule. It's now just a matter of whether David E. Kelley will stick with the project he has shepherded thus far. Sources say that "financial considerations" are influencing Kelley's possible departure, and that October Road's Josh Applebaum, Andre Nemec and Scott Rosenberg are in queue to assume show runner duties. ABC's Life on Mars stars Jason O'Mara (In Justice) as a 21st-century detective transported back to the 1970s. — MWMRelated:• Ask Matt: "Have you heard anything about Life on Mars?"• Jason O'Mara Finds Life on Mars (Or Vice Versa)• Mars Mission Adds a Meaney
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Question: OK, I'm just going to come out with this: I liked Private Practice. Despite all the tomatoes thrown at the show by critics, I found it entertaining and funny, with a dream cast. I realize that taste is subjective, and I can't be in agreement with the masses every time. What I don't accept is the idea that Practice is in some way completely different than or (god forbid) less than Grey's Anatomy. In fact, they're pretty much the same show. The title character has a romantic encounter with someone she finds herself working with later. The commiserating-over-cake scene between Addison and Naomi could have easily been between Meredith and Cristina. Violet and Cooper are an older version of George and Izzie (before that got all gross and icky) and Pete's a taller version of McDreamy. I'm not saying Practice is perfect (I've never thought Grey's was either, even when it was beloved by all). I'm just suggesting that perhaps it doesn't deserve to be punished for unrealistic ...
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Question: I'm probably one of many writing in about this, but you'll have to suffer through one more. I've seen only a few episodes of Boston Legal, enough to know that I didn't really enjoy the show but can see how people would like the characters. I even respect James Spader's work. He was excellent on The Practice way back when, and I'm assuming he's carried at least some of that over to the spin-off. But really, Emmy-worthy? This is even his second win, isn't it? I just don't understand it. Never mind the fantastic competition (Kyle Chandler and Matthew Fox off the top of my head) that weren't even nominated, but what could the voters have possibly seen to give him the award instead of their last chance to honor James Gandolfini for what will certainly go down as one of the more legendary roles in television history? Is it because the show is on HBO? Is it because it's a fundamentally flawed voting process and most of the voters never even watched Tony Soprano's work the final ...
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Colm Meaney by Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Colm Meaney is in final talks to join fellow Celt Jason O'Mara in David E. Kelley's Life on Mars pilot, the Reporter reports. Meaney would play Detective Hunt, the homicide-unit boss who clashes with O'Mara's transplated-in-the-'70s PI.... Kevin Federline's babymama Shar Jackson will guest on Everybody Hates Chris this season, says People, playing a young mom with a wayward teen daughter.... Jon Seda, who was originally to fill a supporting role in HBO's The Pacific WWII mini, has been promoted to play one of the three leads.
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