NBC Deleting 'IT Crowd'?
· NBC might be aborting the only new comedy it was planning to launch this year, its midseason adaptation of the British sitcom The IT Crowd—a potentially surprising development given that newly installed programming rock-star Ben Silverman's entire development philosophy involves the recycling of foreign hits for American eyeballs. [THR]
· At first, we misread the headline "Emmys party circuit heats up" as "Emmys circuit party heats up," a mistake that left us momentarily impressed by Variety's willingness to explore the awards season sexual subculture. Unfortunately, once we figured out our error, the actual story about the battle between ET/People and TV Guide to throw the best, thoroughly vanilla Emmy bash lost much of its sizzle. [Variety]
· Ricky Gervais plots his post-Extras career, taking the starring role in This Side of Truth, a comedy about the first liar in an all-truth world he co-wrote and will co-direct with partner Matt Robinson. [Variety]
· My So-Called Life and thirtysomething creators Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick are resurrecting Quarterlife, a pilot once killed by ABC, on MySpace, where it will hopefully be watched by millions of "creative twentysomethings" similar to its "constantly blogging" main character. We further expect some Flickring and Twittering to be integrated into its cutting-edge cyberplot. [THR]
· Lavishly golden-parachuted former Viacom execs Tom Freston and Jonathan Dolgen are pouring some of their severance cash into Michael Eisner's Veoh YouTube clone, having been told by hip financial advisors that "the kids love them some virals." [Variety]