There's an old joke about the hierarchy of Hollywood movies that goes something like this: The starlet was so stupid she slept with the writer.
Fortunately, Michael Wright, a former actor and current head of programming for TNT had a vision where the writer is King -- or Queen -- depending on the author. He personally loved the two hour television movie so he decided to marry it with a really hot commercial franchise, like a series of bestselling books.
So far, the marriage looks like a blessed event.
The slate of authors Wright has assembled is as follows: Scott Turow, Sandra Brown, Lisa Gardner, Richard North Patterson, April Smith, and Mary Higgins Clark with daughter Carol Higgins Clark.
Unlike the ponderous process of a producing a feature film, these projects came together at an accelerated rate, or as author Smith describes in her case, "virtually overnight," for her book Good Morning Killer (GMK). She went into a pitch meeting on Friday March 18, and forty five minutes later they had a deal. Smith called her agent and said, "This never happens! Nobody makes a deal in forty five minutes."
She wrote the adaptation of her book in less than a month. Several weeks passed by after that until Smith got a call from her agent telling her that she was about to produce a movie. "So that was his way of telling me that the movie was picked up for filming," said Smith. This happened on July 12th -- August 8th, April Smith was in Vancouver for pre-production. And now, GMK is set to air on Tuesday December 13, at 9:00 p.m. This is, to say the least, a very unique timeline and -- according to Smith -- the way they roll (Michael Wright & Sharon Bryens) at TNT.
Smith (writer/producer Cagney & Lacey) has a series of books about Ana Grey, a smart, sexy and complicated F.B.I. agent. Out of four books in the series TNT chose Good Morning Killer, with Catherine Bell (Army Wives, JAG) in the lead role. The movie also stars William Devane and Smith shares co-executive producer title with veteran Frank von Zerneck.
Along with the impressive list of actors mentioned above, here's a short list of some over the actors appearing in the various TNT mysteries: Bill Pullman, Marcia Gay Harden, Alfred Molina, Judd Hirsch, Carla Gugino, Gary Cole and Dermot Mulroney.
I am waiting for review copies of these movies but meanwhile I had the opportunity to see a half hour teaser of Scott Turow's Innocent which I thought was excellent.
Smith, who knows something about writing and producing quality television says: "Television is no longer the despised distant cousin of creativity and episodic is not the orphan child of entertainment."
It seems that old Hollywood joke is now a thing of the past. Adds April Smith: "When you have a show with talented writers, you can do anything"
Here's the slate of TNT Mystery Movies:
Scott Turow's Innocent - Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) Starring Bill Pullman
Ricochet - Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) by Sandra Brown starring John Corbett
Hide - Tuesday, Dec. 6, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) based on Lisa Gardner's book starring Carla Gugino
Silent Witness - Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) legal drama based on Richard North Patterson's novel
Good Morning, Killer - Tuesday, Dec. 13 at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) Adapted by April Smith from her own novel
Deck the Halls - Tuesday, Dec. 20 at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) Mary Higgins Clark and daughter Carol Higgins Clark's