Sex and the Kiddies

Ben Kallen — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:25:00 GMT

Kind of strange news from the literary world: Sex and the City, the newspaper column turned long-running HBO series turned hugely popular chick flick, is being reworked yet again, this time as a young-adult novel. The prequel, which is being written by original columnist (and basis for the "Carrie" character) Candace Bushnell, will follow teenage Carrie as she makes her way through her high-school years.

Weird, huh? According to the New York Observer, the book won't be the great big sex-fest the TV show was, and may not even depict Carrie losing her virginity. (For the record, the paper points out, Carrie already described that event in the TV series as having involved her "sharing half a joint with one Seth Bateman and then doing it with him on the Ping-Pong table in his smelly rec room.”)

Instead, it'll be about a suburban-dwelling teenager who comes into New York City on weekends to hang out with her friends. "The kids will be doing what teenagers realistically do, but it’s not going to be provocative for the sake of that,” book editor Alessandra Balzer says.

Of course, this new book will inevitably lead to yet another TV series or movie -- but we don't necessarily see that as a bad thing. What with all the fighting and competition among high-school girls on such shows as Gossip Girl and 90210, it would be nice to see a series based around genuine female friendships. And if all the characters do is hang out at a cafe sipping virgin Cosmopolitans and discussing kissing techniques, it'll seem downright quaint.

Previously:
Straight From Video: Sex and the City Sequel?

Showtime Attempts To Succeed Where Mike Myers Failed, Announces Studio 54 Show

Bryan Christian — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 20:25:00 GMT

You ever get the feeling that this blog is basically "Pay Cable Today"? We sure do. Like, we've announced somewhere between 12 and 20 shows currently under development for HBO and Showtime in the last few months. Where are they gonna find the time to show them all? Are they gonna become the new Fox or something, and show original programming 2 hours a night? Who can say.

Well, here's one show that we're pretty sure we can skip, unless the cast winds up being wickedly profoundly pants-ignitingly hot: Studio, the story of Steve Rubell and Studio 54, as told by Showtime. We don't care if Bryan Singer, one of the principle players in bringing House and the good X-Men movies to the screen, is behind it. He's also the Bryan Singer who gave us Superman Returns and an ill-fated American remake of Footballer's Wives. Besides, between all the disco movies of the late '90's and VH1, are we not a little tired of this story? Look, as we say: if the people are hot enough, we'll give it a shot -- but Lord knows that didn't make 54 any more watchable.

Well, ah-ha! says the New York Observer...

Studio won't be another docu-drama like the movie 54. The show will use Studio 54's co-founder Steve Rubell as a fictional character and recount the months leading to the club's April 1977 opening, according to the Reporter. But none of the other characters on the show will be based on a real person and the plot will be fictional.

Ah, we see; they're gonna take the broad-stroke circumstances of one actual dude and wrap a sex-laden, entire totally bullshit story around him? Hmm.. so basically it's The Tudors with coke? Pass.

Now here's a "Studio" somebody should make a show outta.

PREVIOUSLY:
HBO, Showtime Announce New Original Programming. Guess Whose Show Sounds Better.

The Remote Island : New York Observer

Sex and the Kiddies

Showtime Attempts To Succeed Where Mike Myers Failed, Announces Studio 54 Show