Baldwin will star in and produce the hour-long drama which has received a put pilot commitment at the cable channel.
- Mar 6, 2015
AceShowbiz - Alec Baldwin may have landed his first regular TV role since "30 Rock" wrapped up in 2013. The Jack Donaghy of the NBC series will star in and executive produce an untitled comedy series which has received a put pilot commitment at HBO.
The Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actor will play "Joe Byrne, a billionaire real estate developer philanthropist, and celebrated socialite/tabloid fixture, who is unexpectedly rocketed into NYC politics when tragedy strikes the incumbent mayor and he is drafted to replace him."
The project is described as "an hour drama that explores celebrity and the political landscape in New York City, dark but not as pitch black as 'House of Cards'." The pilot will be filmed in New York in September, but no director has been hired to tackle the duty. Cary Brokaw and Wells Tower will executive produce the show with Baldwin.
"Cary and I were going to do this together nine years ago, but I got detoured by Lorne Michaels and Tina Fey into '30 Rock'," Baldwin tells Deadline. He dishes on his character, "The character is a philanthropist, a big businessman and well-known tabloid fixture in New York. He's Trump without the baggage, Bloomberg but a Democrat, George Soros if he was in real estate, a left-leaning Democrat who is also a businessman who understands the reality of how the city has to be run to create the right climate for the business community."
"He's drafted for this run because the alternative would be catastrophe. We've seen from shows like Kevin Spacey's 'House of Cards' that you can go anywhere creatively. He throws Kate Mara's character in front of a subway train and you think, what the hell is going on? You can create these Shakespearean character arcs, and pull the curtain back on how New York City is actually run and how political careers are made and lost in the city."
The project reportedly sparked a heated bidding war before landing on the premium cable channel.
