Lurie returns in 'Triumph'
Net snaps up hourlong drama
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Less than a month after Lurie ankled the Geena Davis drama, Alphabet has snapped up a new hourlong drama from Lurie that revolves around an 18-year-old boy who ends up as mayor of a midsize town. Lurie will write the pilot and is attached to direct, schedule permitting.
Touchstone Television will produce via its recently inked seven-figure overall deal with Lurie and Marc Frydman's Battle Plan Prods. banner (Daily Variety, Oct. 10).
Lurie said the show, dubbed "Triumph," would be "a celebration of a new generation that I think is creating a lot of inspired leaders."
Project is timely, given the recent election of 18-year-old high school student Chris Seeley to the post of mayor of Linesville, Pa. Lurie, however, said he and Frydman "have been noodling with the idea of a boy politician for a long time.
"The idea for the show is more about a boy in a man's world than anything else," he said. "We're not going to get bogged down in any political minutiae."
Lurie said he's also aiming to create an hour suitable for viewing by all ages.
"I want to give ABC a great family show," he said. "I'm not looking to do an adults 18-49 show. I'm going to work my ass off to give them a 12- to 90-year-olds show."
Despite the drama over his exit from "Commander" and Steven Bochco's installation as showrunner, Lurie said he's headed into the new project "with absolutely no hesitation" about working with the Alphabet again.
"I don't think the decision to leave was an easy or happy one," he said. "But we're all eager to get back in business and have another hit. They've given me a great deal here."
Scribe said Touchstone topper Mark Pedowitz and ABC Entertainment prexy Steve McPherson have made the recent transition easier through their support. Lurie and McPherson had lunch Thursday at Arnie Morton's in Burbank to seal the deal for "Triumph."
"All I feel around me is confidence, and that's enough to fuel me," Lurie added.
WMA-repped Lurie said he "took a two-day trip to Vegas and exorcised all my demons" following the "Commander" shakeup and noted that he'd been "sleeping more" since leaving the show.
That said, "ABC rejected my first idea for a new show, which was about the first female ayatollah," Lurie joked.
On the feature front, Lurie is prepping the Morgan Freeman starrer "Resurrecting the Champ."
