HBO Cancels ‘John’, Announces New David Milch Project

The discussion probably went something like this - HBO exec rings the writing lab of one David Milch about halfway through the one and only season of John From Cincinnnati - “David, we’re going over the numbers, and this thing really isn’t catching on. We want to keep working with you. What else have you got?”

One day after JFC was - to the surprise of very few - cancelled, and two days after the series finale, HBO has wasted no time in announcing that master-scribe Milch is already working on another project for the network, reports Variety.

As a co-creator of landmark cop drama NYPD Blue and a writer on Hill Street Blues, Milch will ditch his one-and-done “surf-noir” series for much more familiar and ratings-friendly territory in an unnamed police drama set in the early 1970s.

Milch has described his lead as a Vietnam vet who’s sent back to the states, looking for a fast track into an NY detective spot. The cop goes undercover as a “disaffected veteran” to embed himself amongst antiwar activists, while struggling to internalize his own feelings about Vietnam. Milch refers to the project, which he actually began developing for HBO years ago, as a “tragic story.”

Now two projects removed from the set of Deadwood, the question still lingers about the fate of the two promised 2-hour movies that were supposed to end the series with its endless loose ends tied up. Again, no movement on that front, and with every new project Milch takes on, the probability fades.

Related: From last week, factors leading up to the John From Cincinnati cancellation, and a shortlist of backburnered David Milch projects.

Plus, unlike David Chase, who gave away nothing in the way of clues about his famed Sopranos closer, David Milch dumps out on Variety on the JFC finale, with trademark verbosity.

Video: Best Week Ever presents: John From WKRP in Cincinnati.

tedzee | Permalink | August 14 2007 | Comments (View)