Greg Berlanti-related stories
Posted Sep 28th 2009 1:06PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Reality-Free, Gone Too Soon
Every once in a while, a show creeps up on the American public and really captures its imagination. Unfortunately, a lot of times that show is in a terrible timeslot on a tiny little network struggling to survive. Such was the case with
Jack & Bobby.
I'd like to think people didn't just automatically assume that this was a biopic about the Kennedys, though it certainly was playing with that notion intentionally by choosing that name. At its core, the show was simply another teen drama; the kind The WB had built a network around by the fall of 2004.
But it was also something more than that. It was an in-depth examination of the genesis of an American hero. How can someone go from being an ordinary person with ordinary problems into the most powerful man on the planet? While Jack and Bobby were typical all-American brothers, it was one of their destiny to rise to the seat of President of the United States by the mid-21st Century. That's the destination.
Jack & Bobby was the journey.
Continue reading Gone Too Soon: Jack & Bobby
Posted Sep 5th 2008 11:01AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
A new sci-fi series is coming to ABC created by
Star Trek alumnus Rene Echevarria and Greg Berlanti. It is called
The Return and is about the day a group of extra-terrestrials land on Earth. Obviously, hilarity will ensue.
I wish I could count on one hand the sheer number of times I have seen this situation in sci-fi. For classic examples, see
The Day The Earth Stood Still. For more modern ones, there is the concept of
Alien Nation and I can think of at least one episode of
Doctor Who. I'm sure there are a multitude of others.
Echevarria has worked on other sci-fi series than
Star Trek such as
The 4400 and
Dark Angel, so I'm trusting that the guy knows what he's doing to put a new spin on an old concept. However, I don't find the title,
The Return, to be very exciting or imaginative. It doesn't make me want to tune in. Can you think of a better one?
Posted Jul 18th 2008 11:47AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Industry, Desperate Housewives, Lost, Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty, Brothers and Sisters, TCA Press Tour, Private Practice, Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone, Reality-Free
I wanted to wait a bit before I posted about the ABC showrunner panel, because a) I already posted about the "news" from
Shonda Rhimes about Katherine Heigl's statements, and b) I wanted to think about why these panels seem to be so much more informative than the individual show panels?
We'll get to that more later. On the panel were Rhimes (
Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice), Marc Cherry (
Desperate Housewives), Silvio Horta
(Ugly Betty), Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse
(Lost), and Greg Berlanti (seemingly the rest of ABC's schedule). As you'd expect, Rhimes got the Heigl questions, Lindelof and Cuse got the most esoteric questions, and Chery made the most jokes. The funniest line, though, came from Horta.
Continue reading ABC show-runner panel: Heigl, Lost's endpoint, and musical theater - TCA Report
Posted Jul 18th 2008 10:44AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: TCA Press Tour, Private Practice, Dirty Sexy Money, Reality-Free
The photo to the right is of
Dirty Sexy Money (and
Eli Stone and
Brothers & Sisters) EP Greg Berlanti, from the ABC show-runner panel. The reason why I post it is because ABC doesn't have any web-ready photos of either the
DSM or the
Private Practice panels for download, many hours after both panels. This despite promises that they would have web-ready pictures from the press tour up quickly. OK, cranky rant over.
Anyway, the panels for the two sophomore Wednesday shows didn't reveal all that much in the way of new info. We found out a little about what both Berlanti and
PP creator Shonda Rhimes have in store, and how they deal with returning from such a long break (ABC held back the two shows and
Pushing Daisies after the strike, making plans to restart in the fall).
Continue reading Dirty Sexy Money and Private Practice panels: Lots of resetting going on - TCA Report
Posted Jul 17th 2008 2:22AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Industry, Game Show, TCA Press Tour, Eli Stone, Reality-Free
The remaining panels on ABC's first day were for
Eli Stone, the Ashton Kutcher-produced game show
Opportunity Knocks, and a panel for the upcoming Country Music Association events on the network. For the latter panel, Julianne Hough, who has twice partnered with the celebrity champion of
Dancing with the Stars, sang a few songs from her current country album. Pretty girl. Nice voice. Dancer's body. But that's all I can say about the panel, because I bolted shortly after she was done singing.
The
Eli Stone panel featured the entire cast along with executive producers Greg Berlanti (who seems to be producing two-thirds of ABC's scripted dramas) and Marc Guggenheim. Surprisingly enough, there was only one question about the presence of
Katie Holmes as a guest star this season. The reason why she's there is a shock -- they brought her in to get ratings! Will wonders never cease?
Continue reading ABC wrap-up: Eli Stone, a DWTSer sings, and Ashton Kutcher hates my question - TCA Report
Posted Jul 16th 2008 1:23PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Celebrities, Casting, Eli Stone, Reality-Free
Holy crap. Everybody's favorite Scientology war bride,
Katie Holmes, has apparently used those perfect chompers of hers to gnaw through her ankle shackles and score an acting gig.
Holmes is set to guest star on Eli Stone this fall. Producers are staying mum on any details, but sources say that she is signed up for one episode of the fledgling drama.
Holmes got her big break on TV, playing Joey Potter on the uber-popular teen soap
Dawson's Creek. She also had a few impressive turns in movies, such as
Pieces of April and
Thank You for Smoking before meeting Tom Cruise and taking an extended hiatus from the business.
Holmes also gave up her role in the
Batman franchise before dipping her toe back into acting waters with the critically panned
Mad Money. She is set to film her episode later this month and then spread her wings further by traveling to New York to star in a revival of Arthur Miller's play,
All My Sons.
Continue reading Katie Holmes to guest on Eli Stone
Posted Feb 27th 2008 11:23AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: House, Lost, Pickups and Renewals, Dexter, Brothers and Sisters, Dirty Sexy Money, WGA Strike
There's a new guy running the show for ABC's drama
Dirty Sexy Money and his name is Daniel Cerone. Cerone replaces Josh Reims. As executive producer, Cerone will be working with creator Craig Wright (
Lost), as well as Greg Berlanti (
Brothers & Sisters), Matthew Gross and Bryan Singer (
House) -- so the show's got lots of first-class pedigree. Now they have to put it all together for the show.
Continue reading New showrunner for Dirty Sexy Money
Posted Jan 15th 2007 11:45AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: ABC, Industry, Desperate Housewives, Lost, Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty, Men In Trees, Brothers and Sisters, TCA Press Tour
For the last session of the day yesterday, ABC decided to do something a little different and put the executive producers of their biggest hour-long shows up on stage. On the panel were Jon Robin Baitz and Greg Berlanti (
Brothers & Sisters), Marc Cherry (
Desperate Housewives), Shonda Rhimes (
Grey's Anatomy), Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse (
Lost), Jenny Bicks (
Men in Trees) and Silvio Horta (
Ugly Betty).
They answered questions about what it's like to run their shows, from the pilot process to network notes to the writing process to Internet fan scrutiny. Because the reporters were so eager to ask them questions, no more than one or two EPs answered a question at any one time before the next one was asked (and, believe me, if you don't blurt out your question and just keep talking until everyone else stops, you'll never get your question out). The funniest panelist was Cherry, who had something funny to say at almost every turn. The best lines, funny and otherwise, are after the jump.
Continue reading ABC's show runners talk about pitching, network notes, and Internet scrutiny - TCA Report
Posted Nov 1st 2006 2:03PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, ABC, Industry, Celebrities
Fans of the late CBS drama
Smith will be happy to hear this. Jonny Lee Miller, who played Tom on
Smith, has
just signed on to star in a new drama for ABC titled
Eli Stone. It's from Greg Berlanti, the guy who created
Everwood, and Marc Guggenheim, a former attorney.
The plot is about a lawyer who finds out that he might also be a prophet. Ahem.
So many lawyer jokes going though my head right now...can't concentrate...
I just hope he's not a prophet who talks to the dead while solving crimes.
Posted Aug 5th 2006 6:02PM by Richard Keller
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, ABC, FOX, Programming, OpEd
It looks like Everwood is really, really, really, really not coming back. You want proof? Well, how about the creator of the series, Greg Berlanti, leaving Warner Brothers TV and relocating to ABC and its sister production company Touchstone TV. Still don't believe me? Gosh, you're stubborn.
Berlanti, the creator of the recently canceled WB drama as well as the critically acclaimed Jack & Bobby (also canceled), has two drama pilots in development for ABC. One of them, a drama entitled Eli Stone, has earned a pilot order from the network. The other untitled drama, about a wealthy family seen through the eyes of their lawyer, has a script order.
According to Zap2it, Eli Stone, will center on a a lawyer (not the same one who represents the wealthy family) who thinks he is becoming a prophet because of visions he is having. Berlanti hopes that the show will discuss the subject of spirituality with a heartfelt sense of humor. The script for the show was written by Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim, who worked on Jack & Bobby as well as Law & Order and CSI:Miami.
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