How about these apples? Showtime has ordered Boston-set drama “City on a Hill” based on an original idea by Ben Affleck straight to series. Affleck and buddy Matt Damon are both executive producers.
The 12-episode Season 1 stars Kevin Bacon, Aldis Hodge, Jonathan Tucker, Mark O’Brien, Jill Hennessy, Lauren E. Banks, Amanda Clayton, Kevin Chapman and Jere Shea.
Kevin Dunn of “Veep” is set to recur.
Created by Chuck MacLean, the new series is set in early 1990s Beantown, which Showtime reminds us was rife with violent criminals emboldened by local law enforcement agencies in which corruption and racism was the norm. That all changed in what was called the “Boston Miracle.”
In this fictional account according to Showtime, driving that change is assistant district attorney Decourcy Ward (Hodge), who comes from Brooklyn and forms an unlikely alliance with a corrupt yet venerated FBI veteran, Jackie Rhor (Bacon). Together, they take on a family of armored car robbers from Charlestown in a case that grows to involve, and ultimately subvert, the entire criminal justice system of Boston.
Yeah, we know, it sounds an awful lot like “The Town” for TV — but that’s not a bad thing.
In addition to MacLean and Pearl Street Films gang — which, of course, includes Jennifer Todd — MacLean, Michael Cuesta and James Mangold will also executive produce. Bacon earns a co-executive producer credit.
Cuesta directed the “City on a Hill” pilot.
“‘City on a Hill’ has the veneer of a classic Boston cops-and-robbers drama, but actually dives head first into challenging the very institutions it depicts,” Showtime President and CEO David Nevins said Thursday in a press release. “In reality, the series is a penetrating look at the larger criminal justice system and those who operate within it, with mesmerizing performances by Kevin Bacon and Aldis Hodge anchoring the suspense.”
Showtime’s “City on a Hill” will premiere in 2019.