Looking Forward

The trades are always full of stories about upcoming projects, most of which never amount to much. But you never know. Here are two items that caught my eye. They're both a little inside, but sound like they could be fun.

Chris Elliott will star in a live show on the Cartoon Network:

Eagleheart," from Conan O'Brien's Conaco Prods. and Dakota Pictures, centers on a low-level television executive sent to Texas to produce the action series "Eagleheart." He finds himself stuck in a never-ending power struggle with his temperamental star/creator/exec producer (Elliott), a veteran action star past his prime who uses the show as a soapbox for his right-wing politics and conservative paranoia.

Clearly based on Chuck Norris.

Meanwhile, Larry Charles and McG have teamed up to create a comedy for NBC:

Untitled project centers on a group of sci-fi fanboys in a small town who shoot their own version of a canceled TV show. Charles is onboard to write, exec produce and direct the project.

Sounds like it could work--for me, anyway. Most fanboy-centered stuff hasn't done so well. Fanboys make great fans, not great protagonists. The main warning signal to me, though, is the series will be "semi-scripted." I know that's how Larry Charles has worked with Sasha Baron Cohen, but hey, this is shorter than a movie--write a whole script.