Fans of ABC’s beloved “According to Jim” were devastated when the show was canceled after a mere eight seasons, but the network is looking to right that wrong by making a new sitcom starring Jim Belushi.

The project, titled You Won’t Even Know I’m Here, has received a put pilot commitment from the network. ABC Studios and studio-based Brillstein Entertainment Partners are producing. The multi-camera comedy, written by ["Murphy Brown" creator Diane] English, stars Belushi as a co-dependent father whose relationship with his teenage daughter is turned upside down when they are put together in a unique situation. [Deadline]

Wow, this is so good to hear. That premise sounds strikingly original and hilarious, and it’s about time Jim Belushi caught a lucky break. I mean, it can’t be easy knowing that you’ve gotten a 30-year showbusiness career just because your more talented brother died.

Unbelievable. Jerry O’Connell and Jim Belushi star in a TV series on American’s most successful network, yet they’re appearing in a local commercial to plug the ambulance chasers their characters are based on.

After seeing that the real-life “Defenders” are a couple of Italian stallions named Cristalli and Saggese, I’m even MORE disappointed in the casting of the show (and that’s hard to do, given Belushi’s involvement). A show about Las Vegas lawyers is mildly interesting, but a show about cheap Italian stereotype lawyers in Las Vegas would be AMAZING. “Ay, yer honah, my client maintains dat she wudn’t prostitutin’ on da night in question.” It would be like My Cousin Vinny with strippers.

One of CBS’s new dramas this fall is “The Defenders,” starring Jerry O’Connell and Jim Belushi as a pair of streetwise Las Vegas defense lawyers. I don’t particularly mind O’Connell — what he lacks in talent he makes up for with a good sense of humor about himself — but my God, can I not stand Jim Belushi. I suppose it’s unfair to hate him for the sole act of making a living off our memories of his brother… and that’s why I choose to hate him for eight seasons of “According to Jim.”

Anyway, there’s a behind-the-scenes featurette below (along with a screencap of a potentially redeemable part of the show). I hate to admit it, but this show will probably be a massive success because it’s on CBS, it’s shiny, and the people who watch CBS will recognize the actors. CBS viewers are like apes and very smart dogs that way — they have excellent facial recognition skills compared to most other mammals.

Read the rest of this entry »

Now that Fox has unveiled its fall 2010 schedule, we know that one of next year’s mid-season pick-ups will be “Terra Nova,” the Steven Spielberg-produced drama about a family 100 years in the future that goes back in time 150 million years to, uh, fight dinosaurs or whatever. The point is: DINOSAURS! And with the first concept art released today (less serious version here), the new point is DINOSAURS FROM AVATAR! I dunno, it looks okay, but I think it needs to be in 3-D. And 20% more Rasta-fied.

In other series pick-up news, CBS’s schedule is starting to take shape. America’s Most-Watched By Old and Dumb People Network has decided to move forward with Twitter spin-off Shatner vehicle “Sh*t My Dad Says” (still no SFW name), a “Criminal Minds” spin-off starring Forrest Whitaker (“Lazy-eyed P.I.”?), the “Hawaii Five-O” remake (hooray, Grace Park in a bikini!), and a legal drama called “Defenders” starring Jim Belushi.

F*cking Jim Belushi. In a dramatic role. I’m not exaggerating when I say that a better show would be to dig up John Belushi and make his skeleton act out different scenes. In fact, I will personally volunteer to do that if it stops Jim Belushi from getting work. Seriously, I don’t mind. C’mon, I got my grave-robbin’ shovel right here.

    What me, emote?

Jim Belushi tragically survived a plane crash recently to get involved in one of the least believable pitches I’ve ever heard:

Jim Belushi has teamed with Diane English and Barry Levinson for a prospective TV drama that would cast Belushi as a defense attorney character based on the lawyer and TV commentator Mickey Sherman.
ICM is in the process of packaging the series and hasn’t brought it yet to studios and networks, but it would mark a switch for Belushi to drama after his long run in the ABC sitcom “According to Jim.” [...]
Sherman penned the memoir “How Can You Defend Those People?,” and the idea is for Belushi to play a likable lawyer who defends the guilty and the innocent with equal vigor. [Variety]

I just need to see hidden video footage of the pitch meeting for this.  “Settle in, gents.  I have a humdinger for you.  Picture . . . Jim Belushi . . . as a likable defense attorney. Ta da!”  And then the pitch maker was hired to the board of directors at Fox, which is what we do with these people.