Does ABC want a do-over on "Commander in Chief"?
Lost in the announcement that Shonda Rhimes had pitched yet another likely half-baked idea to ABC -- and ABC, despite the fact that her last half-baked idea, "Private Practice," has given them no end of trouble, said yes again -- is the fact that ABC also picked up a drama pilot from John Scott Shepherd.
The novelist has successfully pitched "I, Claudia," about a woman who doesn't realize she's about to contend for the presidency. Thus ABC continues to go where other networks fear to tread: dramas involving women in their 40s. (You can't be president if you're the age of the average female crime-solver on CBS.)
JSS is a friend of the blog whose first book (Henry's List of Wrongs
Since leaving Kansas City, John has been making his bones in Hollywood, working toward the day when he could captain a hit show of his own. He created a wonderful summer series for ABC that didn't deserve to die ("The Days"). At the time I noted that "The Days" really should've been on ABC Family -- and indeed, the mom on "The Days" wound up reincarnated (same actress, similar character) on "Kyle XY."
But from this first impression, "I, Claudia" looks like a network-sized idea. As the linked article suggests, this may be ABC's attempt to take another run at "Commander in Chief," a show that went into the starting gate ass backwards and never really had a chance of succeeding after that. Of course, there is a female POTUS on TV right now -- Cherry Jones' character in "24" -- but in Shepherd's formulation, it appears she'll be more than an accessory.
