Man, is Bruno Heller (The Mentalist) just scoring all the deals lately, or what? On the heels of the news he's working on the Commissioner Gordon origin series, Gotham, for FOX, Deadline is reporting Heller is also producing a space-western for the CW. Wait, what, space-western? You mean the genre basically defined by Joss Whedon's Firefly?
This new show, Red, is described by Deadline as a, "neo-Western drama about the first human settlement on Mars and life on this new frontier, centering on the relationships between the town's female sheriff, a doctor and a criminal." Mentalist executive producer, Tom Szentgyorgyi, is also on board and has written the pilot.
Now, after reading the premise I wouldn't call this show a Firefly rip-off because the similarities really end with it's in space (though, really on Mars) and it'll have humans living the frontier life. Lots of shows have explored those themes, but Firefly was first. Even SyFy's current show, Defiance, owes a lot to Firefly. That being said, it is impossible to hear space-western and not immediately think Firefly, and whether that will help or hinder Red is yet to be seen.
I'm definitely intrigued by the series, and am thankful it's not on FOX considering that network's abysmal track record with sci-fi shows. It's weird though, Heller pitches a DC Comics show and it goes to FOX. Then he takes a sci-fi program and gives it to the CW, which already has series, Arrow and soon The Flash, based on other DC Comics' properties. I don't get it, but then again, I'm no TV producer so what do I know?
What do you Bastards think of Red?
Source: Deadline via Blastr
