An NBC drama series has halted production, with the show taking an unplanned break so that writers can make a "course correction" to work on scripts and story lines, reports Nellie Andreeva at Deadline.com. The show is the midseason series "Crisis."
"There also will be some reshoots done on completed episodes," Andreeva writes. "Along with the pilot for ‘The Blacklist,’ ‘Crisis,’ a hostage/political thriller drama starring Gillian Anderson and Dermot Mulroney, tested through the roof in the spring, with the two considered NBC’s strongest drama pilots of last season."
The hiatus comes after concerns arose that the show has veered from the direction of the pilot, the story notes. Producer 20th TV is also bringing in additional senior-level writers to help creator Rand Ravich.
"Unlike fall series, midseason ones are not on a tight delivery schedule, which has allowed a number of elaborate drama productions to take a temporary shutdown for extra work on story lines and scripts," Andreeva notes.
Can’t say anything about the quality of the series — I haven’t seen it, of course — but who okayed that clichéd lead line? “How far would you go to protect the ones you love?” Really? That’s the best you got?
In my decade at NBC writing lead lines, I was forced to use some variation of that line over and over, mostly for a series of low-budget made-for-tv movies featuring (usually) a mother fighting for the life of her child.
I roll my eyes every time I see an ad with this particular line construction…will the movie or series be as cliched as the ad? As a fan of Gillian Anderson, I hope not.