Scribe nesting with Fox
Peacock sets 2 skeins
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Net is developing a pair of projects with scribe Robert Peacock ("Blue Collar TV") via two 20th Century Fox TV shingles: Imagine and Original. Peacock is developing both a drama and a half-hour comedy for the net.
On the drama front, Peacock is penning "Smoke," an hourlong sudser set against the backdrop of big tobacco. Skein, to be produced by Original's Marty Adelstein and Dawn Parouse, revolves around a North Carolina family in the tobacco biz, with an emphasis on the young rich kids who rep the next generation of the cigarette-making dynasty.
"It's a little bit like 'The Sopranos,' in that it's about a family that's killing people, but they find a way to justify it," Peacock said. "We go into some of what goes on in the tobacco industry, but it's mainly about this family."
The North Carolina setting will also allow Peacock to populate his skein with many Fox-friendly, loosely clothed thesps. "It'll be a very sweaty show," he quipped.
Comedy-wise, Peacock has set up an untitled family-themed half-hour via Imagine. Untitled project focuses on a Southern-fried dad who, following the finish of his baseball career, ends up with custody of his three city-raised teenage daughters.
"We actually pitched it as 'Bull Durham' mixed with 'Petticoat Junction,' " Peacock said. "I'm from Georgia, and my biggest goal has been to set something in the South. People (in Hollywood) usually think that's bad."
Peacock is developing the project with Imagine's Katie O'Connell; he'll exec produce with David Nevins and Brian Grazer.
Currently a consulting producer on the WB's frosh hit "Blue Collar TV," Peacock was a producer on NBC's "Coupling" and has worked on "Reba" and "Mad About You." He created and co-exec produced the recent NBC comedy pilot "Alligator Point."
