SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016 CBS Officially Greenlights Kevin James Comedy ‘Kevin Can Wait’ BS has given an official series order to Kevin James’ new Fickman. The series is being produced through James’ overall comedy “Kevin Can Wait.” The previously untitled project deal with Sony Pictures TV. Cfrom CBS Television Studios and Sony Pictures Television In a statement last fall when CBS issued its production com- had already received a production commitment for the 2016-17 mitment, CBS Entertainment president Glenn Geller said, “We’re season from the network. beyond thrilled to be back in business with Kevin James! He’s an The multi-camera comedy stars James as a newly retired incredibly talented star on every screen and every stage, who police officer looking forward to spending carefree, quality time appeals to a broad audience. We can’t wait to start working with with his wife and three kids, only to discover he faces tougher Kevin and the amazing comedy talents of Bruce Helford and Rock challenges at home than he ever did on the streets. Erinn Hayes is Reuben on this exciting new project.” set to star as James’ character’s wife, with Taylor Spreitler, Mary- The pickup further brings into focus CBS’ programming lineup Charles Jones, James Digiacomo, Ryan Cartwright, Leonard Earl for the upcoming season. Also on Thursday, CBS canceled drama Howze, Lenny Venito and Gary Valentine rounding out the cast. “CSI: Cyber.” The network renewed freshman comedy “Life in Comedy vet Bruce Helford will serve as show runner and exec Pieces” on Wednesday. — Reuters Comedian Kevin James producer with Rock Reuben, James, Jeff Sussman and Andy Funny or Die Aims for Emmys With Johnny Depp’s Donald Trump Biopic ctor Johnny Depp may have fallen short of an Oscar Alfred Molina, Patton Oswalt, Henry Winkler and ‘80s alien nomination for his raved performance as James icon ALF all make cameo appearances. A“Whitey” Bulger in last year’s “Black Mass,” but he has Depp’s Trump impression is on point in the film, and he a shot at TV awards recognition for a biopic of a completely also harnesses the name-calling businessman/politician’s different sort. trademark petulance. Whether he can generate serious con- Funny or Die will be submitting parody film “Donald sideration, well, that could be a tall order. His category is pret- Trump’s The Art of the Deal: The Movie” for Emmy considera- ty stacked this year, with competition from Ian McKellen and tion, Variety has learned, marking the web production compa- Anthony Hopkins (“The Dresser”), Bryan Cranston (“All the Notorious Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. ny’s first-ever submission in longform content categories for a Way”), Benedict Cumberbatch (“Sherlock”), Idris Elba project that premiered on its website. In the 50-minute film- (“Luther”), etc., not to mention limited series candidates like which was released online on Feb. 10 to coincide with the Oscar Isaac (“Show Me a Hero”), Courtney B. Vance and Cuba True Story of New Hampshire primary, but pulled within two weeks (it will Gooding Jr. (“The People v. O.J. Simpson”) and Tom be released again soon). Hiddleston (“The Night Manager”). Depp stars as the now-presumptive Republican presiden- Funny or Die did get a surprise nomination for Kristen Pablo Escobar is Too tial nominee in a project “based” on his 1988 autobiography, Wiig for the IFC miniseries spoof “The Spoils of Babylon” “The Art of the Deal.” It was directed by “Drunk History” cre- two years ago, while Bill Murray is another oddity in the Hard to Believe ator Jeremy Konner and written by Joe Randazzo (The Onion, mix after picking up a SAG nomination for Netflix’s “A Very “@midnight”). Funny or Die also submitted original music and Murray Christmas” earlier this year, so this kind of thing he first Emmy campaign for Netflix’s “Narcos” has offi- lyrics from Kenny Loggins (who performed and co-wrote the isn’t unheard of. cially set sail. Wagner Moura and Boyd Holbrook reunit- film’s title track), as well as Depp’s makeup team and bids for Funny or Die Editor-in-Chief Owen Burke has said the Ted with director-producer Jose Padilha and executive writing and directing. idea with “The Art of the Deal” was to move quickly with the producer Eric Newman for a special screening and panel dis- The movie comes complete with its own faux background, project because all involved assumed Trump would fade cussion, moderated by Variety’s Debra Birnbaum, Wednesday laid out by Ron Howard in bookends: In 1988, Trump wrote, away from the presidential landscape. Three months later, at Paramount Studios in Hollywood. directed and starred in a made-for-TV movie based on his here we are. — Reuters The series, created by Chris Brancato, Carlo Bernard and bestselling book “The Art of the Deal.” But the film never aired Doug Miro, offered a fact based glimpse into the ‘80s cocaine because, as legend has it, it was preempted by a Monday trade, chronicling the escapades of notorious drug lord Pablo Night Football game and Trump furiously refused to release it. Escobar (Moura) and the DEA agents (Holbrook and Pedro Pascal) hot on his heels. Set and filmed in Colombia, the series adopts a documen- tary-like style, frequently cutting to archival video clips and voiceover narration provided by Holbrook’s character. According to Padilha, the historic footage was included to uphold the accuracy of the inaugural season. “The true story of Pablo Escobar is too hard to believe,” Padilha told Variety before the event. “If I told it exactly the way it was, people would think we were making it up. This was so much so, that I had to cut to stock footage many times so people would actu- ally say, ‘Oh wait, this happened?’” The cast and creators prepped for production with an immense amount of research, which entailed interviewing various Colombian political figures, drug dealers and journal- ists who could offer insight on the kingpin’s reign. “We really wanted to embrace the Colombian contribution to bringing down Escobar. They did incredibly brave things and died at an alarming rate,” Newman explained during the panel. “The journalists who covered the story were killed at a rate that, as a society, we wouldn’t know what to do with.” Moura added, “We wanted to be as respectful as we could to Colombian history.” Moura, who is a Brazilian native, didn’t speak Spanish before ultimately landing the role. He revealed that he traveled to the Colombian set location ahead of the “Narcos” cast and crew to familiarize himself with the lan- guage. “You know what he did?” Padhila asked, addressing the audience. “Three months before we even scouted Colombia, [he] went to Medellin on his own, enlisted into a university where Pablo Escobar went and stayed there speak- ing Spanish for three months. When we got there, he knew how to speak Spanish; that’s what it takes.”— Reuters Actor Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Donald Trump on Funny or die..