TV Bits: Viola Davis Circling HBO Series, CW Considers ‘Sex And The City’ Prequel, Comedy Central Announces Fall Premiere Dates, Childrens Hospital Renewed
Seeing as she’s currently enjoying Oscar buzz for her powerful performance inThe Help, the announcement of a potential new project forViola Daviscouldn’t come at a better time. The actress is reportedly eyeing the lead role in an untitled half-hour HBO drama which will focus on a city’s corruption as seen from the perspective of a prep school headmaster with big ambitions.
Dee Rees, writer/director of Sundance favoritePariah, is set to write the script and possibly direct the pilot;Margaret Nagle, who recently wrote episodes of Boardwalk Empire, will co-write the story with Rees. [The Hollywood Reporter]
After the jump, read about a possibleSex and the Cityprequel, Comedy Central’s fall schedule, and the renewal of Adult Swim’sChildrens Hospital.
Although HBO owns the rights toThe Carrie Diaries, it is seeking another network to air the series because HBO’s audience tends to be older and therefore outside ofThe Carrie Diaries' younger-skewing target demographic. The new show seems like a natural fit for The CW, where it would fit comfortably into a lineup that already includes similarly young adult-oriented series likeGossip Girl,90210, andThe Vampire Diaries.
In fact,The Carrie Diariessounds it’ll resembleGossip Girlmore than it doesSex and the City.Josh SchwartzandStephanie Savage, who’ve previously collaborated onThe O.C.andGossip Girl, are expected to executive produce with Bushnell, whileGossip GirlscribeAmy Harriswill likely write the script. Few of the crew members fromSex and the Cityare expected to return. [Deadline]
Comedy Central recently released a list of dates and times from its fall schedule, including those for season premieres ofTosh.0andSouth Park. You can head over toDeadlinefor more details and a more comprehensive schedule, but here are some of the highlights for you to mark in your calendars:
Fans of the weird and very twistedChildrens Hospital, rejoice. Adult Swim has just ordered a 14-episode fourth season for the series, which is currently in its third season. StarringRob Corrdry,Malin Akerman,Lake Bell,Erinn Hayes,Rob Huebel,Ken Marino,Megan Mullally, andHenry Winkler, the show revolves around a group of doctors at the titular hospital — which, to clarify, is not a children’s hospital, but rather a hospital named after a guy named Arthur Childrens. [Deadline]
