Multiple Oscar nominee and three-time Emmy winner Laura Linney will give series television a try in Showtime's new half-hour series about cancer, the cable channel announced.
See photos of Linney throughout her career
The series, tentatively titled The C Word, will also be executive produced by Linney, who stars as a suburban wife and mother who explores the emotional ups and downs of a cancer battle. She is, however, able to find the light side of the dark situation.
"Cancer is not usually the subject of half-hour comedy, but Laura saw what we did in this complex show," Robert Greenblatt, Showtime's president of entertainment, said in a statement. "She will no doubt make this character both heartbreaking and disarmingly funny, and we're thrilled that she has chosen this show for her foray into series television."
Linney earned Emmys ...
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The 60th annual Emmy Awards set out to honor TV history and ended up making a little of its own. As expected, AMC's stylishly adult 60s-era drama Mad Men took home the best drama prize, the first ever for a basic cable series. The upstart channel delivered a much more shocking triumph in Bryan Cranston's surprise (but well-earned) win for Breaking Bad. "She's bald, too," marveled the actor, who shaved his head to play Walter White, a cancer-ravaged teacher-turned-meth dealer. Best known for outrageous comedy roles like the dad in Malcolm in the Middle, Cranston is a well-liked star who was considered an underdog in a strong field that included fellow AMC leading man Jon Hamm of Mad Men, House's Hugh Laurie (amazingly, still empty-handed), Dexter's brilliant Michael C. Hall, In Treatment's brooding Gabriel Byrne and Boston Legal's showboating James Spader.
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I love it when TV can be both very, very good as well as good for you. Such is the case with a logjam of terrific historical dramas competing for attention this Sunday. Two of them had me fighting back tears (and occasionally losing the fight), and then there’s Showtime’s The Tudors, that stimulating royal tonic of sex, religion and other courtly intrigues. Not a lot of boo-hooing while watching this Henry VIII romp, but rarely a dull moment, either.The quality honors this weekend go to HBO and PBS. HBO for concluding its remarkable John Adams miniseries with an episode of quiet, pained humanity as the nation’s second president (Paul Giamatti) goes into retirement with about as much grace—which is to say, very little—as he conducted himself in the political arena. Grumpy, discontent, impatient to the end and convinced he’ll be forgotten by time, John never lets up. There’s a terrific scene in which he’s invited, in his 90s, to view the portrai...
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Cheers (or should I say "Huzzah!") to Laura Linney for her glorious portrayal of Abigail Adams in HBO's rousing miniseries John Adams. It's easy to understand the Founding Father's devotion to his First Lady: She's headstrong yet steadfast, fiercely protective of her family and knows how to handle a gun. Where can I find a woman like that? The Savages star should've won an Oscar or two by now, but she can rest assured she'll win her third Emmy (after Frasier and 2001's TV-movie Wild Iris) for this truly revolutionary performance.
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