Ridley and Tony Scott are developing a remake of "Coma" for A&E, one of several scripted projects in the works at the network.
A&E on Wednesday officially unveiled a new slate of programming for next year, but there’s no reason to talk about that here since it long ago leaked most of the details to other outlets. And if you didn’t know about the "Intervention" spinoff or the Tony Danza/Dee Snider/Bob Saget/Hoff reality shows, well, you haven’t been paying attention to the pop culture noise machine now, have you?
In any case, we think we found a few nuggets of new development amid A&E’s lengthy list of projects in the works. It’s quite possible somebody somewhere reported these, too; if so, please hold your fire.
In addition to "Coma" 2.0 (a miniseries contender; details below), A&E is looking to bring back "Jake & the Fat Man" and "Cannon" via "Big Mike," a show about a husky San Diego detective; it’s being developed, natch, by Adam Sandler’s prolific Happy Madison.
No word yet on whether A&E is talking to football player Michael Oher, rapper Michael "Big Mike" Barnett or "American Idol’s" Michael Lynche to play the title role. If they’re not interested, perhaps William Conrad’s ghost is available.
Here are some more press release details about the scripted projects vying for pilot greenlights at A&E
COMA
From the creative team behind A&E’s Emmy-nominated miniseries "The Andromeda Strain," and the hit drama series "Numb3ers" and "The Good Wife," comes this modern day retelling of the bestselling novel by Robin Cook and film by Michael Crichton. "Coma" is a medical thriller about a doctor who discovers that something sinister is going on in her hospital after routine procedures send more than a few seemingly healthy patients into comas on the operating table. The patients are then sent to an undisclosed institute where they are to be observed; sensing something is amiss, the savvy doctor realizes that their organs are being illegally harvested for profit. She must then decide who she can trust and how to stop it, before she is silenced.
"Coma" is being developed by executive producers Ridley Scott, Tony Scott and David W. Zucker for Scott Free Productions.
CRIMINOLOGY
Sarah O’Rourke believes that anyone is capable of anything. As a brilliant psychology professor at a small university she can reveal an individual’s true motives by setting the simplest verbal traps or false pretexts to executing extravagant ‘pack’ experiments on the entire university body that shine a light on the machinations of our society. So when a local detective, John Acer, comes to her for help in an unsolved case, Sarah breaks down the array of evidence into a seemingly simple study of human nature, from profiling a bank robber based upon the character mask he wears to revealing the location of a serial killer by dissecting a city’s social psychology. A fascinating crime procedural that exposes the truths of why we do what we do.
"Criminology" is being developed by executive producers Ridley Scott, Tony Scott and David W. Zucker for Scott Free Productions. W. Blake Herron is writing the script.
BIG MIKE
Big Mike is a plus-sized detective in a world where plus-sized is a minus. He is a force of nature in the San Diego PD, and his co-workers know not to underestimate him. One of the best in his field, he gets things done, knows all the right people, gets along with everyone, and knows all the best places to eat, a benefit when you’re patrolling for hours on an empty stomach. Big Mike can be a charging bull while serving a warrant or a gentle giant while rescuing a child from a fire. He can be profane, relentless and even deceitful when regulations stand in the way of justice, but he intimately understands both passion and human weakness, which serves as his greatest strength as a detective and his greatest challenge in his romantic life.
"Big Mike" is being developed by Sony Pictures Television, executive produced by Doug Robinson for Happy Madison Productions. Ed Decter and John Strauss (Something about Mary) will executive produce and write the script.
AMERICAN CRIME
Two FBI agents, one male and one female, are partnered together and sent to unusual parts of the country to work with local police and solve crimes. Their cases expose them to different cultures each week (i.e. one week an Aryan nation community, the next an upper class neighborhood in Boston). One is a former high school teacher who is driven by passion and impulse, while the other is more centered and logical. Initially, the two are reluctant partners, though they gradually develop a strong, platonic bond, learning to trust and depend on each other.
"American Crime" is being developed by ABC Studios, executive produced by Mark Gordon and Deb Spera and executive produced and written by Diana Son and Tanya Wexler.
HAZEL RHODES
Hazel Rhodes might wear her concert T-shirt a little too tight and her lipstick might be two shades too bright, but she might also be the best homicide detective Nashville has ever seen. She is the antithesis of a Southern belle, a woman who came from nothing and clamored her way to the top of her field, she’ll do anything to solve her cases, even if it means busting into a men’s restroom or sneaking onto a crime scene to take photos. She’s sharp-tongued and quick-witted, and no murderer is too clever for her. Unlike most murder-mysteries, the audience will see the murder each week in the teaser so it becomes a thrill ride of cat-and-mouse each week as Hazel tries to nail the criminal before it’s too late.
"Hazel Rhodes" is being developed by ABC Studios and executive produced and written by Daniel Cerone ("Dexter").
