August 2, 2007

AMC Boosts Originals

Aggressive development slate includes Breaking Bad, a follow-up to Mad Men that premieres in January.

By Shirley Brady

MORE THAN MOVIES: AMC slates successors to Mad Men.

AMC is looking to follow up on the success of Mad Men—its first original series, which debuted to critical praise and 1.6 million viewers on July 19—and its record 18 Emmy nominations this year with a menu of originals to complement its diet of theatrical movies.

The network formerly known as American Movie Classics' development slate for 2008/09 is intended to put it firmly in the top tier of cable networks with a bent for original drama, including HBO, Showtime, FX and TNT. Its roster of cinematic-flavored original programming in the works is predominantly war-based on the miniseries front, while upcoming series also appeal to male viewers with topics including pro basketball, drugs, boxing and political intrigue.

AMC's upcoming original drama series:

• Breaking Bad, which will become AMC's second original series when it premieres on January 17. The hour-long drama from The X-Files executive producer Vince Gilligan features a cancer-stricken, drug-dealing suburban dad whose terminal illness and knack for chemistry—which he teaches in high school—inspires him to peddle crystal meth (despite the similarities, Weeds it ain't).

• Cutman, a series based on the late boxing trainer-turned-author F.X. Toole's short stories, one of which was turned into the Academy Award-winning feature, Million Dollar Baby.

• an untitled political thriller—set in a Washington, D.C., think tank—steeped in intrigue, state secrets and espionage.

• an untitled series about a pro basketball star in a fictional league—taking a leaf from ESPN's faux NFL drama, Playmakers—from former L.A. Laker Rick Fox and movie producer Mark Canton, who will executive produce.

• a modern-day remake of 1960s cult British TV series, The Prisoner. The trippy sci-fi classic (which may be retitled Number Six) about a spy trapped in a mysterious colony is a co-production with Sky One and Granada International in the U.K.

On the miniseries front, AMC is developing a quartet of period wartime dramas:

• The Things They Carried, a miniseries based on Tim O'Brien's award-winning 1990 collection of linked stories about American soldiers in the Vietnam War.

• Saigon Bureau, which is being scripted by Apocalypse Now writer John Milius, is also set in the Vietnam War, but follows photojournalists instead of U.S. troops.

• Against the Guns of Quantrill, a miniseries set in the Civil War.

• Berlin Mesa, a limited series set in WWII.

With a dozen or so original series and miniseries in development, AMC's eventual goal is to offer one night of original programming a week. All its originals are being shot on film, scripted and produced by Hollywood studio veterans, and aspire to the cinematic quality of Broken Trail. As with Mad Men and last year's breakout miniseries, Broken Trail, AMC will flank each original with similarly-themed movies.