Tomlin, Byrne are new HBO stars

[carrie721]

yay! i love lily tomlin & the thomasons!

Lily Tomlin will star in an hour-long comedy series for HBO, created by husband-and-wife producers Harry Thomason and Linda Bloodworth-Thomason of "Designing Women" and "Evening Shade" sitcom fame.

HBO also said Monday it has ordered a new half-hour drama from "Entourage" executive producer Mark Wahlberg and starring Gabriel Byrne.

The comedy, "12 miles of Bad Road," features Tomlin as Amelia Shakespeare, head of a real estate company and matriarch of a wealthy Dallas family, HBO said Monday.

In the pilot, Mary Kay Place plays Amelia's sister and Leslie Jordan plays a cousin. An air date has yet to be set, and HBO didn't indicate how many episodes of the show it had ordered.

Tomlin co-starred in 2006's "A Prairie Home Companion," the last film released by director Robert Altman before his death. The actress-comedian has appeared in TV series including "The West Wing" and "Will & Grace."

Thomason and Bloodworth-Thomason gained attention for more than their sitcom successes: They're longtime friends of former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and produced Democratic convention films for Bill Clinton, including 1992's "The Man from Hope."

The drama in the works for HBO is "In Treatment," based on an Israeli series titled "In Therapy." HBO has ordered 40 half-hour episodes, starring Byrne ("The Usual Suspects," "Vanity Fair") as a therapist. The pilot included Embeth Davidtz, Dianne Wiest and Blair Underwood.

In Israel, the series aired five nights a week, with each episode focusing on a counseling session with one or two of the therapist's regular patients. HBO did not indicate whether its series would air the same way.

An air date for "In Treatment" has yet to be set, HBO said.

[goldustsongbird]

Lily!

[rbs3676]

WOW - what a powerhouse! Leave it to HBO...

rbs

[hayley]

Flying my dork flag here- HBO also announced that they're going to make a series of George R.R. Martin's Song Of Fire and Ice series. These books are so intricate and visually rich that I'm really, really pumped to see where they go. I think this is going to be a must see for anyone that's a fan of the sci-fi/fantasy genre. My boyfriend almost blew a gasket when I told him about it.

HBO turns 'Fire' into fantasy series
Cabler acquires rights to Martin's 'Ice'
By MICHAEL FLEMING

George R.R. Martin series
HBO has acquired the rights to turn George R.R. Martin's bestselling fantasy series "A Song of Fire & Ice" into a dramatic series to be written and exec produced by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

"Fire" is the first TV project for Benioff ("Troy") and Weiss ("Halo") and will shoot in Europe or New Zealand. Benioff and Weiss will write every episode of each season together save one, which the author (a former TV writer) will script.

The series will begin with the 1996 first book, "A Game of Thrones," and the intention is for each novel (they average 1,000 pages each) to fuel a season's worth of episodes. Martin has nearly finished the fifth installment, but won't complete the seven-book cycle until 2011.

The author will co-exec produce the series along with Management 360's Guymon Casady and Created By's Vince Gerardis.

Martin's series has drawn comparisons to J.R.R. Tolkien, because both are period epics set in imagined lands. But Martin has eschewed Tolkien's good-vs.-evil theme in favor of flawed characters from seven noble families.

The book has a decidedly adult bent, with sex and violence comparable to series like "Rome" and "Deadwood."

"They tried for 50 years to make 'Lord of the Rings' as one movie before Peter Jackson found success making three," Martin said. "My books are bigger and more complicated, and would require 18 movies. Otherwise, you'd have to choose one or two characters."

Aside from writing the most recent draft of "Halo," Weiss recently adapted the William Gibson novel "Pattern Recognition" for WB and director Peter Weir.

Benioff and Weiss were repped by CAA and Management 360.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=14&cs=1

[JazmenFlowers]

this should be awesome. The Thomasons and Lily? pure genious.

[carrie721]

Originally Posted by hayley

Flying my dork flag here- HBO also announced that they're going to make a series of George R.R. Martin's Song Of Fire and Ice series. These books are so intricate and visually rich that I'm really, really pumped to see where they go. I think this is going to be a must see for anyone that's a fan of the sci-fi/fantasy genre. My boyfriend almost blew a gasket when I told him about it.

i need to read these, after i'm done with the dark tower series. can i share that dork flag?

Originally Posted by JazmenFlowers

this should be awesome. The Thomasons and Lily? pure genious.

seriously.