With Three Rivers (almost) behind him, we can only speculate about what Alex O’Loughlin will do next. Alfre Woodard has already moved on to Delta Blues, Daniel Henney has hinted that he too has something new in the works and hopefully when Alex comes back from Australia in the New Year, we will hear what his next project will be.
Reading between the lines of his latest blog post, he appears to be reluctant to do another show, but if Alex chooses to remain with CBS, another go at a television series is inevitable, although it’s possible that any new deal he strikes with the network will again include a movie. It would be the obvious win-win solution for both parties. After all, CBS wants him in a successful series, whereas Alex has admitted that his dream is to have regular work in feature films because it allows him to “go from one character to the next” and to “tell a million different stories.”
But with just one yet to be released major US feature film under his belt as the male lead, moving away from television at this moment to a full-time movie career seems unlikely.
CBS appears eager to keep him in the fold; President and CEO Les Moonves recently stated to TV Guide Magazine, “He’s in the family.”
Assuming that Alex will remain in the employ of CBS, here’s a look at some of the shows currently in development that have been linked to the network this past year. Could one of them be Alex’s next project?
“The Streets of San Francisco” Remake
The Huffington Post quotes The Hollywood Reporter, that writes that CBS has ordered a script for a possible pilot for a modernized version of the seventies’ cop show that starred the late Karl Marlden and Michael Douglas. The writers are said to have spent months developing a remake. Status: script order.
“Hawaii Five-O” Remake
TV Series Finale reported in August 2008 that Ed Bernero (Criminal Minds‘ executive producer) was working on a script for a second remake of Hawaii Five-O for CBS that would revolve around Chris McGarrett, the son of Steve McGarrett from the original series. It’s not until October 2009 that further mention of a possible remake is made by Variety, which reported that Peter Lenkov (CSI: NY executive producer) would be developing a pilot script and that the show would presumably be filmed on the islands in order to take full advantage of the tax credits offered to film and TV productions. Status: ordered to pilot.
Untitled “Criminal Minds” Spinoff Project
First mentioned as early as July 2008, the spinoff of the popular CBS crime procedural has apparently been taken off the back burner. The Hollywood Reporter writes that the potential new show would feature fresh FBI characters and be introduced in an episode of the current show as early as spring 2010. Status: ordered to pilot.
“Private”
Variety reported on December 6, 2009 that CBS is developing an adaptation of James Patterson’s and Maxine Paetro’s novel Private, that is not due to hit the bookstores until June 2010. The book’s premise according to Amazon.com: “Former Marine and CIA agent Jack Morgan inherits his father’s renowned security and detective business–along with a case load that tests him to the breaking point.” Two of Patterson’s books were adapted for feature films starring Morgan Freeman, “Kiss the Girls” and “Along Came a Spider”. Status: script order.
These are just four possibilities for CBS that come to mind. Check out The Futon Critic DevWatch for more shows in development!
[tags]alex o’loughlin, alex o’lachlan, cbs[/tags]
Sorry OM, Alcide has just been cast ;-):
http://www.spoilertv.com/2009/12/true-blood-finally-casts-alcide.html
Thanks mizzoH, I just saw that when I followed your link to spoilerTV about the Criminal Minds spin-off. I suppose it wasn’t meant to be. I can understand the reluctance to see Alex in more genre TV or an ensemble cast, but I put HBO in a totally different category. Perhaps Game of Thrones would have something for him? Although, I think they’ve pretty much cast all the major parts already.
I don’t mean to be downbeat, but I’m not a huge fan of police procedurals. They are fundamentally plot driven, usually formulaic and, well, ubiquitous these days on network television. And, not as likely to give an actor in a recurring role a chance to stretch or dig deep. So, I would just as soon see Alex pass on an offer to star in a Criminal Minds spin-off.
If the Back-up Plan does well at the box office, he may be in a very different position in a few months. So, maybe it’s not a good idea to tie himself down to a TV series anyway. And, for the other CBS shows in development: name more than one remake of a US TV show that turned out to be a good idea. I can think of one, but I can’t think of two. So, I would say the odds on either Hawaii Five-0 or Streets of San Francisco surviving a full season are not so great.
(Love your site, btw!)
Thank you mizzoH for this information, I am still so sad with Three Rivers cancellation, I loved the show and specially Dr. Andy, you could see how much work Alex put on his character delivering an extraordinary performance each show, I could understand why Alex wouldn’t want to do another TV show, I can only imagine how hard it is for him to go through all that again!
I too hope he gets some time to relax and enjoy the holidays with his family and come back to us, it will be hard not to have him on TV anymore but I am looking forward to the Back-Up Plan in April, hopefully we will have good news before!
Although I enjoy genre shows, I agree with justmick that another one may not be the right choice right now. And as for Moonlight, unfortunately that’s just not in the cards. Alex has told us that time and again. Asking for Moonlight is negating all his hard work on Three Rivers and that must hurt. He’s said that once he’s played a certain character, he doesn’t want to repeat it. He has clearly moved on and so should we. I’m sure he’s looking forward to the day that ML isn’t brought up in an interview :-)!
I would love to see him do an action show, but anything he does, I’ll watch. My only wish is that it is not a show with an ensemble cast – Alex deserves to absolutely be the lead. And I hope he has a lot of fun with it, whatever it turns out to be.
I’m anxious to see what Alex’s next project will be. Those that you mentioned seem like excellent possiblities. He certainly does not need to be pigeon-holed into another genre show at this time and I don’t want to see him in anything less than a leading role.
Also, AMC is adapting a graphic novel, The Walking Dead, into a TV series that looks interesting. Frank Darabont is writing and directing and Gayle Ann Hurd is producing. It’s more genre TV (zombies, this time), and perhaps he’s steering clear of that these days. But if they put the same kind of love into it that they put into Mad Men, it could be quite good.
I’m curious, do you know whether CBS’s talent holding contract is still in effect? Is that what Moonves means by “still in the family”? I gather Alex has built a good relationship with Joel Silver between Moonlight and Whiteout. Perhaps Silver has something in development that Alex could step into? I noticed at imdb that Silver has a lot in the works. Unknown White Male is announcing its cast right now. Maybe there’s a supporting role Alex could take while CBS casts around for another series for him. If the CBS deal is done, I’d love to see Alex get a role in TrueBlood. They’re casting the werewolf characters for season three. Alex as Alcide?
The talent holding contract was a one-year deal and in any case, I would imagine that it has long since been superceded by his contract for Three Rivers and The Back-up Plan.
I think Les Moonves simply means that CBS would love to hang on to Alex
Not so sure about the relationship with Joel Silver. Don’t forget that Alex did Whiteout before Moonlight and Moonlight ended over a year and a half ago. He has also said that there was more going on behind the scenes than we know: “You have no idea the stuff that went on. I can’t believe it lasted as long as it did.” – Boston Herald, April 29, 2009
I hope Alex enjoys a well deserved break with family and friends in Australia for the holidays and blogs when he returns on what he has chosen to do next.
I admit I would selfishly love to see him in both a new TV series and more feature films, Mizzoh. It’s good to know that he understands his true fans will honor his choices and always support him and his work.
Thank you for the additional information regarding the possibilities that may be on the table for him to consider, Mizzoh!
I also hope CBS will choose to air the remaining episodes that were completed for Three Rivers.
Thank you MizzoH for posting this interesting information. I believe that Alex will be successful in any one of these action packed crime dramas. I especially like Hawaiit Five O, The Street of San Francisco and the spin off of Criminal Minds. Alex will be on a successful and long running drama series in 2010.