Lost’s Perrineau joins The Unusuals
Just last week, Harold Perrineau was wondering why his character was killed off on Lost, wishing the producers hadn’t blown Michael up with the freighter. He wasn’t out of work for long. Harold Perrineau has just been cast on a new ABC comedy/drama called The Unusuals. The pilot, which could be a mid-season replacement on ABC, is an hour set in a New York City police precinct.
Harold will play Detective Leo Banks, an agitated cop who’s so afraid of being shot or attacked that he’s never without his Kevlar bullet-proof vest. (Does he wear it in the john?) Sounds potentially funny. The writer of The Unusuals is Bones’ Noah Hawley and the executive producer is Peter Tolan (Rescue Me, The Larry Sanders Show), so there will be an emphasis on humor. Maybe not full-out Barney Miller, but still funny.
By the way, if there are any doubters that Lost has definitely killed Harold’s character, listen to what writer Damon Lindelof said about Michael. “He sacrificed his own life to redeem himself for past mistakes and to help the Oceanic 6 get off the island.”
And if that wasn’t an obit, Harold himself has commented on his Lost exit, which he believes is final. “I’m disappointed, mostly because I wanted Michael and Walt to have a happy ending. I was hoping Michael would get it together and actually want to be a father to his kid and try to figure out a way to get back [home]. But this is [the producers’] story. If I were writing it, I would write it differently.”
ABC orders four more pilots
There was more pilot news percolating out of ABC yesterday, including three dramas and a sitcom. On the funny side, writer/producers Jennifer Konner and Alexandra Rushfield are working on Bad Mother’s Handbook. It follows the life of a busy, thirtysomething mom dealing with the needs/wants/desires of her teenaged daughter and 48-year old mother. Hmm, sounds like a close knit family! You think they’re all under one roof? The sitcom will be a single-camera affair, half-hour laugh fest (or so we hope). I vote for Jamie Lee Curtis as the 48-year old mom. She can still play 48; yes, she can. She looks great on those yogurt commercials!
The other three go-aheads are all crime/police oriented. In Castle, a novelist of horror stories (Stephen King-like perhaps?) lends his expertise to the NYPD homicide squad. Maybe he’s Monk without the neuroses, but I think this will be darker. It was written by Andrew Marlowe who also wrote the Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie End of Days.
Also on the police beat, The Unusuals comes from the pen of Noah Hawley (Bones). It’s the story of a New York police precinct. Rescue Me vet Peter Tolan is the executive producer, and like that show, The Unusuals will blend drama with comedy.
Finally, there’s Finnegan, also set in copworld, but this one is based in L.A. A tough female detective leads the organized crime/vice unit. Trent Jones (Threat Matrix) is the writer.