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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.
Sounds like the same reasoning behind the book not being added to a certain book club list.
Does this bode well or ill for ART OF FIELDING at HBO? Rudin has that too, right?
There has been absolutely no news on that but good point, great book and really cool series potential.
What a disaster pilot– it was truly unwatchable
I worked on it and would love to see it even if it stinks. Do you have a screener?
Bwhahahaha!!
Maybe it just wasn’t good?? Just cause you put all those “popular” people on a show/movie doesn’t mean it will be good:)
I’d still like to see it. They should stick it on iTunes or something.
I love how, all of a sudden, HBO is the worst network ever. The comment about airing CBS-like procedurals cracked me up the most.
This is the network that renewed Treme TWICE despite extremely low ratings, the network that currently has the best Sunday lineup on TV (GoT, Veep, Girls), the network that’s bringing Aaron Sorkin back to TV this summer,… – should I go on?
You never saw the pilot. So stop whining. If there’s one network that knows what it’s doing, then it’s HBO.
You almost had me there buddy, save for the fact that you think saving TREME was a courageous move. The problem with HBO is that their brand is both sophisticated and broadly appealing, which shows like THE SOPRANOS, DEADWOOD and SEX AND THE CITY delivered flawlessly, but the current regime seems to have only gotten the sophisticated part of the memo, and continues to bet on truly inaccessible, elitist programming. I understand why their choices start to mirror CBS’ – it’s the only network doing decent business, and doing it by offering popular, yet sophisticated shows. THE GOOD WIFE is about one of the best dramas on TV. Nina Tassler or Bonnie Hammer should be running the joint – they’re the only executives in the business, along with Bob Greenblatt,who truly understand how to develop a television network into a brand.
You almost had me there, buddy, save for the fact that you think Bob Greenblatt knows how to develop a network. Did you not see how he handled his pet project Smash?
I have faith in Greenblatt. He did what he could with the little he had, and ended up with a hit in GRIMM and THE VOICE, and SMASH just keeps getting better. Plus his pilots this season are looking incredibly promising. I would bet money he turns things around by this time next year.
I don’t understand the reasoning behind going through the very expensive production/pilot process for well over a year – just to pass on the series because its concept would be to hard to maintain as a series. That is a very basic principle that should be considered before the first actor is casted – not months after the pilot had wrapped.
I was really excited for this show and felt like it was finally giving HBO an opportunity to be unique again, but alas like EVERY OTHER PILOT they passed on it. I wonder if there will be any “series premiers” on the network in 2013…
I would hate to be Scott Rudin’s assistant when he gets this news.
I’m fine. I’ve learned to type without the use of my hands.
i would hate to be scott rudin’s assistant period.
Still mad at HBO for not going forward with The Wonderful Maladys. That was a great pilot.
You ACTUALLY got to watch The Wonderful Maladys?!?! I have been wanting to watch that pilot FOREVER!!!!
Me, too!!!
To those up in arms: the reality is that it probably wasn’t very good and they’re saving face for everyone involved.
what an amazing shame that is.
I think this is good news. HBO has done better recently by developing original (“Veep”, “Girls”) or outside-the-HBO box genre content. (‘True Blood,” “Game of Thrones.”) The prestige-chasing (“Luck” = prestige cast, “Boardwalk Empire” = prestige creators, “The Corrections” = prestige source material) was getting old. “The Corrections” was never really a suitable foundation for an ongoing TV series, which they seem to have come to terms with.
I never could imagine how this book was going to be adapted into a compelling television series. I guess it wasn’t possible.
Can’t say I’m surprised, it’s an extremely overrated book by an extremely overrated author. I really don’t think the reputation of either will survive the test of time–it’s better than most recent novels, but just because that’s true doesn’t mean it’s good enough.
Fact: HBO has fewer “working” dramas than Showtime, AMC, or FX. What a disaster.
Yeah. HBO has so few “working” dramas. Luckily for them, those dramas are Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, True Blood and Newsroom. 2 out of those (probably 3 after Newsroom premieres) are awards darlings and all of them have or will do great for pay cable viewership. Meanwhile, Showtime is trying to get people to remember The Borgias still exists.
While I agree with your points on HBO, Showtime isn’t completely devoid of “working” dramas — Dexter, Homeland, The Borgias & Shameless.
Fair enough. I agree with Homeland and I do like Shameless, but writing HBO off on dramas when they clearly dominate the category in pay-cable and are more than competitive with basic cable, in favor of Showtime just seems ridiculous.
The fact that you have to cite a show that hasn’t even aired yet as one of HBO’s successes really says something. Five minutes ago you probably would have included “The Corrections” on your list.
The reality is that they have two working shows: Game of Thrones and True Blood. Boardwalk is boring and mind-bogglingly expensive.
None of this will do a thing to diminish HBO’s self-regard, however.
Yes, Showtime has more dramas — dramas they must repeat over and over because they comparatively crappy line-up of movies. Not only does HBO have its considerable library of original programming, it’s got premium output deals with Warner Bros, Fox, Fox Searchlight, Dreamworks, etc. What does Showtime have? Weinstein Company, CBS Films? (That said, Showtime’s subscriber growth is solid, is it not? Maybe the lack of flicks isn’t a big concern.)
They also killed a drama project in development about the capital punishment in Texas that Brad Pitt was producing and had Kyle Chandler attached. Anyone read that script?