'Breaking Bad' Creator Vince Gilligan Teams up with 'House' Creator for a New Detective Drama for CBS
Breaking Bad's creator Vince Gilligan will be collaborating with the David Shore (House) for a new detective drama for CBS.
Gilligan and Shore are teaming up for a new series, Battle Creek, for CBS. The duo have got a series production order for the 2014-2015 season. The show already has a 13-episode commitment. The drama was originally created by Gilligan about a decade ago. Shore will be the showrunner, and Gilligan is expected to direct.
When Gilligan originally developed the project in 2002 (pre-Breaking Bad) for CBS, it didn't get picked up. This deal brought the show back to CBS but according to reports the network's entertainment president, Nina Tassler, hadn't given up on it and had kept it on her radar.
"In the Hollywood development community, Vince is the hottest name in the business," Van Amburg, the president of programing at Sony, told the New York Times. "If I went somewhere with the phone book with Vince's name on it, I could sell it."
Amburg also credited Tassler for pushing for the project at CBS. Tassler visited Sony studio mid-August and in the midst of discussions she brought up Battle Creek.
"If Vince would rewrite it, and direct it, I would give you a pilot order," Ms. Tassler told Amburg.
Battle Creek is about a team of two detectives with very different world views and personalities. One is slightly gullible and naive while the other is a cynic who relies on guile and deception to get his work done. The show is set in the Battle Creek, Michigan.
Gilligan and Sony TV won an award for outstanding drama series for Breaking Bad at the Emmys on Sept. 20.
