HBO Drama Pilot ‘The Corrections’ Not Going Forward
HBO will not be going forward with the Noah Baumbach/Scott Rudin pilot The Corrections. The drama project, based on Jonathan Franzen’s acclaimed book, boasted one of most star-studded casts ever assembled on television: Chris Cooper, Dianne Wiest, Ewan McGregor, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Rhys Ifans and Greta Gerwig. The Corrections revolved around the troubles of a Midwestern couple (Cooper, Wiest) and their adult children (McGregor, Gyllenhaal) as they trace their lives from the mid-20th century to “one last Christmas” together near the turn of the millennium. Attempting to bring Franzen’s book to the screen — something that had been tried unsuccessfully on the feature side for a decade — was considered a big swing. Word is HBO brass liked the performances but the decision came down to adapting the book’s challenging narrative, which moves through time and cuts forwards and back. While that works in the novel, it proved difficult to sustain in a series and challenging for viewers to follow, hampering the potential show’s accessibility. HBO’s decision to pass on The Corrections comes on the heels of the pay cable network’s eight-episode straight-to-series order for True Detective, a high-concept cop drama starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. Despite the timing, I hear the two decisions are not related as the recent cancellation of Luck freed up resources and HBO had the room and money do to both.
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Why HBO?
Jumping back and forth in time is the new trend in screenwriting, one that works far better on the page than it does in practice. Audiences hate it and one has to wonder when executives will figure out it is a trend that backfires.
Yeah, I think that trend started with Citizen Kane.
Seriously? Big mistake,HBO. Big. Mistake.
ooh! Burn.
Oh HBO, thou art truly rudderless. How much did you already spend on that pilot? What a waste.
But everyone loves cop shows, right? And CBS certainly doesn’t have enough, so why not throw your hat into that overbloated ring.
My thoughts exactly… All the more reason to believe that truly elevated material has no home on television.
using your logic (“CBS has plenty of copy shows”) we would never have gotten “The Wire” or “The Shield” – 2 of the greatest series of the last decade.
It sounds like the thinking of making the transition from complex novel to the screen was a difficult challenge/decision at HBO.
Watching this outstanding cast work together would have been wonderful.
I know HBO loved this project very much. Must have been a tough tough decision.
I really, really hope there’s a way to watch that pilot…
THATS a star studded cast???
At first glance, I thought you were just being snarky. But, yeah, you have a point. It’s a great cast, but it doesn’t exactly scream “one of the most star-studded casts ever assembled on television.”
Once again Michael Lombardo and Richard Plepler prove why they should stick to the acconting. That’s a lame excuse, what they were thinking greenlighting this project? Chris Albrecht would kill it at Starz if he had development like HBO.
Mike and Rick, leave the creative thinkinh to Sue and Carolyn.
I’m guessing there are about 20 writers right now who feel less like killing themselves. With this, HBO has basically passed on EVERYTHING this year in the drama department – they might as well hold a sidewalk sale for every other cable network.
HBO has passed on EVERYTHING for this show.
Does this mean they’re no longer going to be sucking up to big names over quality?
It would be a relief.
Under this HBO regime there would be no Soprano’s or The Wire because the names of the creators and actors weren’t big enough to walk in the door.
If HBO would just look to quality without the ridiculous need for hype they would have shows as good as Mad Men, Breaking Bad and Homeland on their network.
Plepler is all about marketing over quality. He has no passion for great stories. He won’t stand behind anything unless Graydon Carter will put it in his magazine.
Game of Thrones, True Blood are happy accidents under this regime.