ABC in Step with Christopher Reeve
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) --ABC will air a series of three specials that chronicle Christopher Reeve's attempts to walk, beginning in the fall with an hourlong show that will document the paralyzed actor's 50th birthday. The two other installments will air sometime in the next two years as developments in Reeve's condition warrant. Reeve's son Matthew, a film student at Brown University, first pitched his father on the project, which intimately follows the actor's daily trials. The actor agreed, and Matthew Reeve began scouting for outside support, ulti-mately pacting with UK-based producer TWI, the programming arm of Intl. Management Group. "His presence gave his father the confidence that it will be done in a way that wouldn't violate an arbitrary line of privacy," TWI president Bill Sinrich said. Matthew Reeve, producer Stuart Watts and exec producer Alastair Waddington embarked on the project 18 months ago. TWI approached ABC this spring about picking up the trio of pro-grams. "They sent us over a tape of some of the stuff his son had shot, and we were pretty blown away," said Andrea Wong, ABC's senior VP of specials and alternative series. "Everyone thinks they've seen a lot of Reeve, but you haven't seen him in his daily life struggling to reach his goals. You see his physical therapy, you see him struggling to live, and you see how his family deals with it." ABC will likely air the first special ei-ther around Reeve's Sept. 25 birthday or during November sweeps. Reeve, who became paralyzed from the neck down after a riding accident seven years ago, has vowed that he would walk again by his 50th birthday. "He hasn't achieved that, but has some improvement that will surprise people when they see the documen-tary," Sinrich said.
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) --ABC will air a series of three specials that chronicle Christopher Reeve's attempts to walk, beginning in the fall with an hourlong show that will document the paralyzed actor's 50th birthday. The two other installments will air sometime in the next two years as developments in Reeve's condition warrant. Reeve's son Matthew, a film student at Brown University, first pitched his father on the project, which intimately follows the actor's daily trials. The actor agreed, and Matthew Reeve began scouting for outside support, ulti-mately pacting with UK-based producer TWI, the programming arm of Intl. Management Group. "His presence gave his father the confidence that it will be done in a way that wouldn't violate an arbitrary line of privacy," TWI president Bill Sinrich said. Matthew Reeve, producer Stuart Watts and exec producer Alastair Waddington embarked on the project 18 months ago. TWI approached ABC this spring about picking up the trio of pro-grams. "They sent us over a tape of some of the stuff his son had shot, and we were pretty blown away," said Andrea Wong, ABC's senior VP of specials and alternative series. "Everyone thinks they've seen a lot of Reeve, but you haven't seen him in his daily life struggling to reach his goals. You see his physical therapy, you see him struggling to live, and you see how his family deals with it." ABC will likely air the first special ei-ther around Reeve's Sept. 25 birthday or during November sweeps. Reeve, who became paralyzed from the neck down after a riding accident seven years ago, has vowed that he would walk again by his 50th birthday. "He hasn't achieved that, but has some improvement that will surprise people when they see the documen-tary," Sinrich said.