Spike TV has added another original programming project to its slate. The cable network said today that director Rob Reiner has signed to develop a series called Basket Case, based on the best-selling novel by journalist Carl Hiaasen.
The Emmy winner will direct the show and is developing a script. Hart of Dixie’s Alex Taub was tapped to write and the executive producers are Peter Gethers (Old Jews Telling Jokes and Jeffrey Levine (Too Big To Fail). Other executive producers are FremantleMedia North America’s Thom Beers, Craig Cegielski and Stefanie Berk and Reiner and Liz Glotzer for Castle Rock Entertainment.
“Corruption, murder, and laughs. I can’t think of a more satisfying combination,” Reiner said in a statement. “Carl Hiaasen strikes the perfect balance. I’m so looking forward to entering his twisted world.”
Hiaasen called it “very cool” to have one of the writers of This Is Spinal tap adapting his work for television.
Basket Case centers on an investigative journalist trying to deal with women, success, change and corruption at a time when the family-owned newspaper he works at is sold to a conglomerate. When he rips the new owner in a story, he gets demoted to writing obituaries, which give him a new perspective on Miami.
Reiner, who stars in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, recently directed The Bucket List and The Magic of Belle Isle, both with Morgan Freeman. He won an Emmy back in 1978 for his role on All In The Family.
image: Fox