LOS ANGELES–Executive producer John Wells confirms that Fox has passed on Intelligence, the CBC drama he was re-developing as an American series with creator Chris Haddock (Da Vinci’s Inquest).
“We developed it at Fox, they have passed on it and we’re taking it to other places because it’s a great script,” said Wells, interviewed on the set of his NBC drama ER, which is heading into a 15th and final season this fall.
Wells added that he really likes working with Haddock, loves the script and thinks the project will get made. “We’re actively trying to set it up elsewhere,” he told TV Feeds My Family after today’s session.
The CBC version of Intelligence starred Ian Tracey as a conflicted crime boss. After two critically acclaimed but low-rated seasons, the public broadcaster canceled the drama last March.
With multiple Emmy nominations this year for dark dramas such as Damages, Dexter and Mad Men, Wells can see Intelligence landing at any number of emerging cable networks. “In the old days, if a network passed, it was like yesterday’s salad bar,” he says. Now cable networks like Showtime, FX and AMC are hungry for original adult dramas like Intelligence. Says Wells, “a lot of the reasons they get passed on at the network level is that they’re too complicated or too dark.”
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