Michael Smerconish Novel Optioned for TV Show
Michael Smerconish’s debut novel Talk has been optioned for a television show. The hour-long drama is expected to debut sometime before the 2016 election.
“Like anyone who’s ever written a novel, as I wrote it I envisioned it on the screen. Of course in most cases that doesn’t come to pass and now this looks like it will, and I couldn’t be more excited,” Smerconish told Politico. “I think the story lends itself to TV beautifully. In the world of House of Cards and Alpha House, I can definitely see Talk on a television screen.”
If you can believe it, Smerconish’s novel is about a powerful conservative talk show host struggling with power and his political beliefs. “Will he continue playing the game according to his cynical advisors,” the description reads, “or listen to his own conscience and drop an even bigger bomb than expected?” It’s set in Florida during an important presidential election.
Warner Bros. has optioned the rights to Talk. It is early in development and is not yet attached to a network. Jim Leonard and Michael Robin are the executive producers, with Robin also scheduled to direct. Leonard was a consulting producer on Dexter and The Closer, while Robin was a producer on L.A. Law and an executive producer on The Closer and Nip/Tuck.
[Politico]
