NBC exec: 'Glad to be out from under' Cosby mess
NBC entertainment chief Robert Greenblatt fields questions about Bill Cosby.
From the Television Critics Association's winter meetings in Pasadena, Calif.:
NBC entertainment chief Robert Greenblatt kicked off his semiannual news conference here with a Bill Cosby joke, quipping that the network was "developing a comedy with Bill Cosby and a miniseries with Hillary Clinton."
He wasn't laughing a few minutes later, when reporters questioned him about the decision to cancel plans to develop a new sitcom with Cosby in the wake of allegations by more than a dozen women that the Philadelphia-born comedian had drugged and sexually assaulted them.
Six months ago, when Kate, Aurthur, a reporter for Buzzfeed, immediately after a press conference, raised the issue of accusations against Cosby-- accusations reported in the Daily News as early as 2005 and involving more than a few women -- Greenblatt was dismissive, as he was of my question about Cosby's having been become a more controversial figure in the black community in the years since his hit NBC show left the air.
On Friday, in response to another reporter's question, Greenblatt agreed it was "safe to say" that NBC would not be working on any projects with Cosby in the future.
What changed?
"Fifteen women came out and accused him of what they accused him of," Greenblatt said, acknowledging that he'd been aware of allegations about Cosby, but that "it didn't seem to be the kind of thing that was critical mass."
Even now, "he hasn't been sort of proven guilty of anything....but when that many people come out and have similar complaints and it becomes such a tainted situation," the network felt it had no choice but to cancel the project.
"We never even got a first draft" of the script that was in development, Greenblatt said, adding that he's "happy to be out from under that."
In less contentious news from NBC's day at the critics' meetings:
-- NBC's ordered 13 episodes of a new series, "Telenovela," from former "Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria.
-- An eight-hour miniseries tentatively titled "Freedom Run" and set against the background of the Underground Railroad is being produced by, among others, Stevie Wonder, with whom the network is also developing a musical version for "further down the road."
-- "The Music Man" and "The Wiz" are in the running for live-musical treatment next December, but no final decisions have been made.
-- Zachary Levi ("Chuck") has joined the cast of the NBC miniseries/reboot "Heroes Reborn."
-- Dolly Parton's developing a series of movies for the network, inspired by her own life, that Greenblatt sees as uplifting, family-friendly entertainment. It wasn't clear whether she'd be appearing in any of them.
-- Reporters were shown an extended clip of a David Duchovny miniseries, "Aquarius," in which he plays a detective who, in 1967, encounters Charlie Manson. Tag line: "Sex. Drugs. Violence. Experience the Age of Aquarius."
-- "Downton Abbey" creator Julian Fellowes is getting ready to fulfill his NBC deal by developing "Gilded Age," set in the New York of the 1880s, "a time when money was king." Greenblatt hopes to see it on the air sometime in the 2015-16 season.
-- "Shades of Blue," the series in which Jennifer Lopez will play an undercover cop, is expected to begin filming in June.