TVSquad

Sorry, folks. Small, fan-girl breakdown approaching. Oh, hell yes! Nathan Fillion (aka Capt. Mal Reynolds) has been reunited with Firefly scribe Tim Minear to star in Fox's mid-season replacement Drive. Fillion will play Alex Tully, a "charming, rogue landscaper" who is coerced into joining a cross-country race in order to search for his abducted wife. (Alright, if that character description came from anyone other than Minear, I might be more skeptical.) In the original version of the pilot, the role was played by Ivan Sergei.

While he had initially been approached for the role, Fillion had to turn it down due to a scheduling conflict. After the pilot was shot, but before Fox had picked up the show, he was approached for a second time by executive producer Minear. This time he was able to accept, and the Whedonverse rejoiced. Drive debuts in March.

Tim Minear has had a rough go of it with his post Whedonverse career. Wonderfalls and The Inside were both shut down early in the going, which is a shame because Wonderfalls was a fantastic show. I don't have a lot of hope for his current gig as Consulting Producer for Standoff either. The show just doesn't seem to be able to find an audience. But you know what they say... try try again.

USA Today's Coming Attractions has a little blurb about Minear's latest project, Drive, that says it is coming in March. They refer to it as "Amazing Race meets 24." Minear adds, "There's a giant purse of money at the end, but they don't know where the end is." Other than that, most things about the show remain up in the air. Early reports had Nick Lea (X-Files, Whistler) and Ivan Sergei (Hawaii, Jack & Jill) starring in the show. However, a recent post on nicklea.com reveals that many of the roles are being recast, including Lea's and Sergei's. Even with all the confusion, it's still a Minear show. That makes it worth watching.