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NBC Failure Coming Up: Tom Fontana leaves The Philanthropist

By fred | April 23, 2008

When they recently revealed their schedule for next season, NBC included on the list a new series called The Philanthropist.

The one-hour drama is about “a rebel with a cause”. The main character, Teddy Rist, is a billionaire who, after the tragic death of his child, decides to use his money, power and connections to help people in need. He wants to do good, and he’s ready to do anything that needs to be done to get there : “bargain with the self-righteous, trade with the nefarious and even tell the truth. Instead of spending $25,000 a plate at a fundraiser, he’s dodging bullets in third-world countries to hand-deliver vaccine. It’s a global adventure that will take viewers to the ends of the Earth and will inspire them as well.”

What made this project quite interesting was the name behind it : Tom Fontana, well-known for his work on series such as Oz or Homicide, was executive producer, showrunner and writer of the show. Yes, was.

Because it’s been reported that Fontana has exited the project, over “creative differences” with the network. It seems that, truth to his self, Fontana intended to embed the show in the reality of the world, and focus on social issues such as immigration, drug addiction and the use of children soldiers in parts of world. Of course, that wasn’t so good for NBC.

You have to realize that NBC is now working with advertisers first when it comes to creating a show ! They’re already loving product placement, and those aren’t always as brilliantly made as in 30 Rock, see Heroes promoting some stupid car or Lipstick Jungle promoting some beauty products over & over again as part of the episodes. And recently, NBC announced their intention to join forces with advertisers to create “product-centered programming”.

In other words, what matters to make a show isn’t an idea, a character, a plot, or some creative minds. No, what matters is a product, and how to sell it. Soon, their series won’t be actual shows, but hour-long commercial. See the upcoming Knight Rider for example.

Easy to see why they didn’t like the direction Fontana was heading into, despite having ordered his script straight to series in September. Oh but yeah, right, it’s NBC, they’re morons.

Tom Fontana is leaving the show, and so is his producing partner Barry Levinson. The fate of the writing staff Fontana had assembled before the strike, and made mostly of scribes who have worked with Fontana before, remains uncertain. The show was already having problem casting its lead for the past months, it is now also looking for a new showrunner, and, in fact, an entire creative team.

Needless to say, this is very likely be end up being a pretty lousy piece of crap. But it’s not the only project NBC is willing to launch next season, based on nothing, remember that other stupid idea they have : they will create an Office spinoff, and even have it to premiere after the Superbowl. They have a timeslot, now all they need is everything else !

But hey, at least for this one they have a name!

In the mean time, Tom Fontana is developing a new project for AMC, the new home of great series such as the awesome Breaking Bad, or the critically acclaimed Mad Men.

Posted in News
Shows: The Philanthropist