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David Tennant get's US Pilot

Bob The Skutter

Bob The Skutter

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David Tennant gets US Pilot

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Popular British actor David Tennant, best known for playing the title role in the BBC's long-running sci-fi series "Doctor Who," is set to make his American television debut as the title character in NBC's hourlong pilot "Rex Is Not Your Lawyer."

Written by Andrew Leeds and David Lampson, "Rex" centers on Rex Alexander (Tennant), a top Chicago litigator who begins suffering panic attacks and takes up coaching clients to represent themselves in court.

David Semel, who directed the pilots for "Heroes" and "Life," has come on board to helm the comedic legal drama from Universal Media Studios and BermanBraun.

He will also executive produce with veteran Barry Schindel (who is attached as showrunner), Gail Berman, Lloyd Braun and Gene Stein. Leeds and Lampson serve as supervising producers.

NBC greenlighted the project in August, about two years after it was first developed, and had been trying to find a lead actor for several months until Tennant came along and nailed the part.

Tennant, a theater and TV actor, rose to fame playing the mysterious alien time-traveler at the center of "Doctor Who" for the past five years. His performance as the Doctor has been often rated as the top in the franchise's 46-year history.

Tennant's casting is reminiscent of the tapping of another established British TV actor with virtually no American TV experience, Hugh Laurie, as the lead on Fox's medical drama "House."
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Legal dramas generally aren't my thing, but I'll probably check this out if it gets any further than pilot stage, simply because Tennant is in it.
 
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Re: David Tennant gets US Pilot

Hmm, panic attacks you say? I forsee a lot of gurning...
 
Re: David Tennant gets US Pilot

I thought the same thing when I read that bit. :lol:

I'll definitely check it out.
 
StCoop said:
When they finally dump Leno they'll have an extra bunch of slots to fill.
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They're committed to Leno for 2 years. However I don't believe they're committed to him for 2 years of 5 shows a week. I think the general assumption is they're going to cut back the number of hours with Leno. The whole Southland situation lost NBC a lot of face.

That said, there's nothing here that suggests Tennant's show will be "edgy" or "post-watershed" so it could just as easily fit into a Heroes or Chuck-style timeslot.

Alex
 
I wish David E. Kelley was involved in this - sounds right up his street. But DT's involvement means I'll certainly check it out.
 
David would be wise to stay CLEAR of NBC because at the moment no new show will make an impact on that network. His U.S Career could be binned before it gets started on that network.
 
I'm glad he found work considering last time

Tennant Who?


Scottish actor David Tennant may be a big star in Britain, but he was left red-faced in the U.S. after he was asked for identification at an audition.

The star quit his role as the Time Lord in cult U.K. sci-fi show Dr Who last year, and ventured to America in search of a new challenge.

But the British TV star failed to even get past security for one screen test.
Tennant says, "I was going to an audition but I couldn't get past the security guard. He asked for some I.D. (identification) but I didn't have any - I didn't think I'd need it."

http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0932310/
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Oh! No way! How horrible for him! :lol:

Apparently not many BBC watchers in that building!
 
Samurai8472 said:
I'm glad he found work considering last time

Tennant Who?


Scottish actor David Tennant may be a big star in Britain, but he was left red-faced in the U.S. after he was asked for identification at an audition.

The star quit his role as the Time Lord in cult U.K. sci-fi show Dr Who last year, and ventured to America in search of a new challenge.

But the British TV star failed to even get past security for one screen test.
Tennant says, "I was going to an audition but I couldn't get past the security guard. He asked for some I.D. (identification) but I didn't have any - I didn't think I'd need it."

http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0932310/
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What a humbling experience for a guy who doesn't really need it! :(

As for the topic at hand, if the show is greenlit, I predict that it will fail, if only because of the title alone. The cast could be great and the premise doesn't sound bad at all, but US audiences tend to run from shows with off-beat titles for some reason, sadly.

Hopefully they can change the name of the show to "Rex" or "Not Your Lawyer" (yeah, I'm an original thinker).
 
I agree it needs a title change, but its early days, im sure no one is married to the title at this stage
 
He may not have thought he'd need ID because he didn't yet understand how tight-assed American culture has become.

In any event, I hope he understands that working in American TV usually means "done in 13" at best.
 
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