Update: Kyle Killen and “Lone Star”
There are certain writers with whom I develop a fascination. Kyle Killen is one of them. It all started with his original script “The Beaver.” For those unfamiliar with the premise, here is what is currently on the project’s IMDB page:
A guy walks around with a puppet of a beaver on his hand and treats it like a living creature.
Yes, that’s right… a talking beaver puppet. Thus began my curiosity with Mr. Killen leading to these posts:
The 2008 Black List (December 11, 2008). “The Beaver” was ranked the #1 best unproduced script in Hollywood.
Jodie Foster and Mel Gibson circle “The Beaver” (July 10, 2009). Well, it seemed like good news at the time.
Summit picks up “The Beaver” (August 21, 2009). If only a certain studio could have mastered time travel and gone into the future about one year…
Killen sets up TV pilot at Fox (January 18, 2010). Great news!
Fox picks up “Lone Star” (May 15, 2010). Even better news!
And now this:
At today’s TCA, Fox presented the new drama Lone Star — which, with that title, couldn’t really be set anywhere else. The show’s lead character (played by relative newcomer James Wolk) has two wives and two lives in two different locations, Houston and Midland. It will actually be shot in Dallas, the setting for another Fox series introduced earlier this year, The Good Guys. Lone Star creator/executive producer (and native Texan) Kyle Killen explained that when he pitched the series, “I sold it as Dallas without the cheese. It definitely has things in common — it’s big, it’s Texas, it’s got oil. I would like to think we will go for a few season without hair-pulling cat fights. But we might run out of ideas.”
And there you go. A writer with a sense of humor. But of course, I got that from reading “The Beaver,” as well as the fact that Killen is an excellent writer. What with a certain lead actor’s highly publicized meltdown of late, it’s hard to know just what will happen with the movie The Beaver. So it’s nice to see Killen nail a TV series.
You can see promo clips from the show here, here, and here.
UPDATE: Killen has a blog and in this post from today, he ruminates interfacing with the press, his family, his TV show, belly shirts, and life in general. Two money excerpts:
The truth is, four years ago I was pulling cable through laundromat ceilings. Every day that I put on my belly shirt and drive to the studio to find that there’s still a parking space with my name on it is a great day. I’m confident that mere weeks after you actually see the show that parking space will go away and I’ll find the door to my office lock changed with a little note that says ‘Sorry, finally realized you’re a moron,’. Until then I will keep boring journalists and ruining cast photos because frankly I’m excited about the opportunity to make not just a mess, but a BIG mess.
— —
The point is, I really don’t belong in this office any more than I belonged on that kickball field. And I’m actually fine with being an easy out in both places. But if you’re only going to get one shot at the plate, you don’t bunt. If you hate the show and we get cancelled after the first night, I’m totally cool with that. I just want you to know we were trying to put it over the fence.
There it is: existentialism in show business. You finally make it, but you rarely know if you’ve really made it, but while you’re there, you do your best to “put it over the fence.”
Good luck, Kyle Killen, and may the Nielsen gods be kind to “Lone Star.”
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