Tracy Morgan Returns to TV a Hero
Today in show business news: Tracy Morgan has a new pilot in the works at FX, Jenna Elfman gets another shot, and Disney is getting sued.
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Tracy Morgan, the gonzo guy from Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock, might soon be appearing on FX. The network has ordered a pilot for Death Pact, a comedy that will have Morgan playing "a formerly lazy, pot-dealing assistant high school coach who returns to his hometown as a decorated war hero. He runs across three down-on-their-luck friends and former students and sucks them into his new radical self-help philosophy, which involves harsh consequences for failure." Which... Hm. So Tracy Morgan is the together one? That's a reversal! But hey, it's good to diversify, to branch out, right? Next thing you know Tina Fey will be playing a popular, unamibitious sexpot who needs to start taking things more seriously. And then Alec Baldwin will be... Well, Alec Baldwin's played lots of different characters. Fair enough. But, uh, what about Jack McBrayer as a jock from the North? That'd be crazy! [Deadline]
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Though her show 1600 Penn was just canceled, Jenna Elfman isn't staying down for long. She's in talks to replace Parker Posey on the NBC comedy The Family Guide. She'd play a recent divorcee and mom who's got a blind father. The show looked terrible in the upfronts clip we saw a couple weeks ago, but who knows, maybe there's something there. Let's hope there is, as Elfman was doing pretty good work on Penn before it got pulled and she deserves another shot. It'd be better if it wasn't this awful-seeming family pander thing that's likely to get canceled after two episodes, but hey, work's work. [The Hollywood Reporter]
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An author is suing Disney for billions of dollars because he claims that he invented the idea of pirates that turn into skeletons in the moonlight, which featured in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, which has made billions of dollars. He's sued before and settled out of court, but I guess he's decided to go for the big bucks again. He's insistent Disney stole his idea and he's owed monies. Hm. Good luck, dude. Going up against Disney in court is like David and Goliath if Goliath was a huge multinational corporation that owns half of the ideas in the world. I'd like to see him win, some random writer getting a billion-dollar check from Disney. It'd have to be a big novelty check, wouldn't it? Maybe in the shape of Mickey's head. I suddenly vehemently support this lawsuit. [The Hollywood Reporter]
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Here is a trailer for the Machete sequel Machete Kills. It looks like it cost about three dollars to make, probably because they had to pay all the celebrities in it. Everyone is in this damn movie! But of course people are mostly curious about Sofia Vergara's boob guns and Lady Gaga as someone named La Chameleón. Oh, and I guess "Carlos Estevez." Ugh, Sheen. Aren't we all sick of Charlie Sheen? We should be. Anyway, here it is.
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And here is the promo for NBC's summer series Camp, which features Academy Award nominee Rachel Griffiths running a camp full of horny teenage boys. At least that's what it seems like from this trailer. Finally, Rachel Griffiths gets to work in the milieu best suited to her.
