Arrested Development creator Mitchell Hurtwitz is returning to television. Settle down, settle down! He's not coming back with new installments of AD, so you can continue your extended period of mourning. No, this time around Hurtwitz is going across the pond to adapt a well-received British comedy for American audiences.
Along with Arrested writer Richard Day, Hurtwitz is beginning work on a U.S. version of The Thick of It. The original version of the show, which won the British Comedy Award for best comedy, was about a harried minister of Parliament who had to deal with inept bureaucrats under the thumb of a number of politicians and civil servants, including the prime minister. My knowledge of British comedy is slight, but the premise sounds a lot like an updated version of Yes, Minister (or Yes, Prime Minister).
Hurtwitz and Day are working with Sony to shop the program to the networks. Day is writing the pilot script and both he and Hurtwitz will server as executive producers. Now the only question is will Ron Howard narrate the show?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-31-2006 @ 10:07AM
Dan said...
This is great news! Though I would have preferred the return of Arrested Development, I saw The Thick of It on BBCAmerica. Very low key humor in the style of "The Office." I'm eager to see how Hurwitz builds on it.
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10-31-2006 @ 11:37AM
007 said...
This project seems right up Hurwitz's alley. I've been excited since I first read about it this weekend. Never mind Ron Howard narrating, I'd rather have a cameo appearance by Barry Zuckercorn.
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10-31-2006 @ 12:55PM
Cinesister said...
EXCELLENT news. I hope they can do for The Thick of It what those great guys over at The Office managed to do (i.e. not screw up one of our few decent shows by remaking it for a US audience!)
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