Don't Make A Sad Face, Ewan
Wednesday, May 2, 2012 at 11:27AM 
JA from MNPP here. Have y'all heard the lousy news that HBO has passed on The Corrections? An adaptation of Jonathan Franzen's well-loved 2001 bestseller, the HBO series was going to be produced by the terrifically talented Noah Baumbach and had lined up a truly amazing cast with Chris Cooper and Dianne Wiest as the parents and Ewan McGregor and Maggie Gyllenhaal and Greta Gerwig as their adult children. Ahh! That cast leaves me a little breathless.
They filmed a pilot, which all of us should immediately call our state representatives about enacting legislation which would force the immediate dissemination thereof. There's like a Freedom of Information Act or something right? Bring that up. We can do it!
Anyway HBO passed on it. The plan had been fairly massive - they wanted to make four ten-episode long seasons - so it always seemed a little too good to be true. With a cast like this, ya know? We daren't dream such things. It only leads to madness. I don't know if they can shop the series to other networks at this point - maybe Showtime?
HBO did pick up Cary Fukunaga's series True Detective with Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey though, so it's tempting to say there's an HBO executive out there making choices with his bong...
Reader Comments (13)
Sadgasm
Lousy news indeed! I'm super disappointed.
HBO passed on Mad Men too...that went well.
I absolutely love that novel, and I am SUPER disappointed that the show will not be happening. It's even more upsetting now that I know who the cast would have been. Diane Wiest and Chris Cooper as the parents? OMG, that's such perfect casting...Alas, I'll have to just imagine this show now...
The cast does indeed sound interesting, but perhaps it's for the best, since one would rarely expect "terrifically talented" and "Noah Baumbach" to be used in the same sentence. (At any rate, I wouldn't, since I just don't like his movies.)
Hi JA! Nice to see you over here.
That is a great cast and I would have loved to see how they filled those 40 episodes. Would have been some great viewing, I'm sure.
Poor Ewan. Someone needs to comfort him.
And don't those 2 potheads looks happy together? I really think they make a charming couple. Such boyish enthusiasm and bluster. I bet they'd make rambunctious love.
Could the show be picked up by another network?
Didn't read the book but darn this sounded good. And here I just rekindled my love for Baumbach by finally seeing Kicking and Screaming! Oh well....
It will be good to see Ewan at Cannes though!
I can't say I'm sad. 40 episodes would've meant less movies or no movies at all for two years, at least. As a non-American who can't watch HBO, I'd rather see him in movies. That face was made to be seen on a big screen.
This would have been a disaster. Hated the book. Nothing happens to a bunch of miserable characters. MAYBE a four hour miniseries would have worked (especially with that cast), but 40 hours? HBO decided they didn't want the lawsuits from survivors of people who committed suicide after each episode.
The cast really sounds terrific. However, I still haven't finished the book after over a year because I am just not interested in what happens next / what had happend to the characters, so it was only the cast which made me excited about the series. I'm with Iggy - now Ewan has time for the big screen.
Wait, Greta Gerwig AND Maggie Gyllenhall as the children? Did they change Gary or Chip from male to female? Who is playing whom? I guess it's all moot at this point anyway...
mikey: I have to agree. Yes, I read (and love) the book, but I'd think a reasonable director and writer would be able to get to the core of EVERYTHING in six hours.