RARA-AVIS: noir on tv?


Jim Beaver (JUMBLEJIM@prodigy.net)
Wed, 15 Sep 1999 17:00:01 -0700


Never mind the links. Here's the story from the print version of today's Variety:

Helmer Thomas Carter and scribe David Mills are resurrecting Denzel Washington's detective character from 1995's "Devil in a Blue Dress" for a one-hour urban detective drama in development at ABC.

Alphabet has given a pilot commitment to the project, which is being produced inhouse at Touchstone Television and targeted for the 2000-2001 season. Carter ("Equal Justice," "Miami Vice") will exec produce and direct the pilot, with Mills ("ER," "Homicide: Life on the Street") penning the script.

Released by Col TriStar in 1995, "Devil" featured Washington as Ezikeal
"Easy" Rawlins, a black detective in 1948 Los Angeles who becomes entangled in a web of politics and racism. Carl Franklin ("One False Move") helmed the pic, which was based on a Walter Mosley novel.

Washington is not attached to the skein, but the show will feature a black thesp in the lead and retain the strong African-American themes of the pic. With the major webs under attack for a lack of minorities in their fall shows, the Carter-Mills project could rep a significant step forward toward addressing those concerns.

in addition to exec producing "Equal Justice," Carter exec produced HBO's
"Don King: Only in America," which won a best telepic Emmy in 1998. Carter also exec produced and wrote the short-lived drama "Divas" in 1995. A former journo, Mills has served as a co-producer on "ER" and "NYPD Blue" and also wrote for the NBC detective drama "Homicide: Life On the Street."

Carter and Mills are repped by CAA.

Jim Beaver

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