ABC resurrects, updates the hourlong Western
Aug 27 2002 3:25PM GMT
HOLLYWOOD, CA (CNN/Reuters) -- ABC has greenlit production on "Then Came Jones," an unconventional hourlong Western about a crooked cowboy at the cusp of the twentieth century, Variety reports.
The pilot begins in the last three days of 1899 and is set in the border town of El Paso, Texas, where the 20th century is rapidly bringing to an end the ways of the Old West. The main character is Ben Jones, the town's kingpin of sin.
"He's a morally ambiguous hero who controls the Tenderloin district of El Paso and finds himself thrust into the position of taking over law enforcement for the town," said Chris Brancato, who wrote the story with Burt Salke. "The show will look at how technology and other changes are bringing on the death of cowboy culture."
The series will focus on modern problems and issues as seen through the prism of 1899. "Our logline for the show has sort of been, 'This is not your grandfather's Western,"' Salke said.
In fact, the pilot episode will feature such 20th century touchstones as the automobile and an early version of the machine gun. The oater is being developed for midseason or fall 2003.
The project has been in development at ABC and sister production company Touchstone Television for nearly a year and was originally intended for this fall. Indeed, ABC executives passed on an early draft of the pilot -- even though the network actually pitched the two scribes on the idea of doing a Western.
ABC reconsidered its decision after Brancato and Salke decided to change a few plot points in the first episodes. "We were dead and gone last January, and we just got resurrected," Brancato said.
ABC has agreed to produce a pilot and has ordered three additional scripts.
Aug 27 2002 3:25PM GMT
HOLLYWOOD, CA (CNN/Reuters) -- ABC has greenlit production on "Then Came Jones," an unconventional hourlong Western about a crooked cowboy at the cusp of the twentieth century, Variety reports.
The pilot begins in the last three days of 1899 and is set in the border town of El Paso, Texas, where the 20th century is rapidly bringing to an end the ways of the Old West. The main character is Ben Jones, the town's kingpin of sin.
"He's a morally ambiguous hero who controls the Tenderloin district of El Paso and finds himself thrust into the position of taking over law enforcement for the town," said Chris Brancato, who wrote the story with Burt Salke. "The show will look at how technology and other changes are bringing on the death of cowboy culture."
The series will focus on modern problems and issues as seen through the prism of 1899. "Our logline for the show has sort of been, 'This is not your grandfather's Western,"' Salke said.
In fact, the pilot episode will feature such 20th century touchstones as the automobile and an early version of the machine gun. The oater is being developed for midseason or fall 2003.
The project has been in development at ABC and sister production company Touchstone Television for nearly a year and was originally intended for this fall. Indeed, ABC executives passed on an early draft of the pilot -- even though the network actually pitched the two scribes on the idea of doing a Western.
ABC reconsidered its decision after Brancato and Salke decided to change a few plot points in the first episodes. "We were dead and gone last January, and we just got resurrected," Brancato said.
ABC has agreed to produce a pilot and has ordered three additional scripts.