CRIMINAL JUSTICE, a potential crime drama series that HBOWatch has been tracking, did not make the cut this week. Upon review of its completed pilot HBO has passed on James Gandolfini’s attempt to return to the premium cable network that brought us THE SOPRANOS. It was a New York-set drama which tracked a person on trial for murder through the court process, and revolved around a guy who wakes up after a night of partying with a stranger to find her stabbed to death and is charged with her murder. Gandolfini would have starred as Jack Stone, a downtrodden jailhouse attorney who frequents police stations to drum up clients. Each season would have featured a different cast and a different case that Mr. Stone would take on.
Though the project was helmed by an HBO favorite I can understand why CRIMINAL JUSTICE may have failed – it seems too similar to TRUE DETECTIVE, another HBO project that has a series commitment already. That doesn’t mean the show is dead. Gandolfini can always shop the pilot to another network.
But, I‘d prefer he would stay with HBO. He had another idea pitched for the network that HBOWatch hasn’t heard anything about for over a year. It is a project called BIG DEAD PLACE and was about working the last untamed frontier on the planet – the research base at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Would you like to see Gandolfini return to HBO?
So have you seen BEYONCE: LIFE IS BUT A DREAM yet? HBOWatch has and has its ‘gut reaction’ review here. And, it seems, several others have seen the documentary special. Numbers are in and the show pulled in 1.8 million viewers for its Saturday night (02.16) premiere. Believe it or not that makes it the largest audience for an HBO documentary since such ratings have been monitored.
The Hollywood Reporter even went so far as to offer these statistics – The second place documentary with 1.7 million viewers was Spike Lee’s 2006 documentary WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE which was about Hurricane Katrina and that Beyonce’s piece saw three times more viewers Saturday night than GIRLS saw with a first-run episode on Sunday night. Just thought we’d share.
This, of course, just means that many people tuned in but, if HBOWatch comments are any reflection, that doesn’t mean they liked what they saw. There is still plenty of opportunity for you to weigh in on it. Was it a hit or miss for Beyonce?
- CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM Now On TVLand
Are you still suffering for your fix of CURB…? Well, if you don’t have CURB YOUR ENTHUSIAM on Disc, or watch it on HBOGo there is another location on your dial to check it out. Unfortunately, you have to be an insomniac to watch it. TVLand now carries Larry David’s genius work.
You also have to settle for a cleaned up version of the series too I’m sure. So, those of us who have seen CURB… as it is meant to be seen will not settle down for a watered down version. And what’s worse; even though it is edited it airs at 2:00am nightly! No thanks, I’ll get my fix somewhere else. You?
Champion Boxer Floyd “Money” Mayweather has left HBO and HBO PPV and has signed a six year contract with Showtime. The boxer has spent his entire career with HBO and has given the network some exciting matches over the years but was finally lured away by a more attractive contract. HBO offered the following statement. –
[box]“We made an aggressive and responsible pay-per-view offer. Now we are move on. We are focused on the best boxing franchise [HBO CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING] in the television business. We are proud of the roster of superstar fighters and the emerging stars that are scheduled to appear on the multiple HBO television platforms this year.” [/box]
HBOWatch will be back with more news as we get it. Watch for it.
1 comment
What, no one is disappointed that Mr. G. isn’t coming back to HBO yet?