'The Will' finds way at Eye net

Net to make creative changes, but core concept to stay

By JOSEF ADALIAN

CBS has picked up its first reality show from Mike Fleiss: ABC's "The Will."

Net has made a seven-episode commitment to the unscripted family sudser, which had been in development at the Alphabet. Eye reality czar Ghen Maynard and Fleiss will make some creative changes to the concept and begin a new casting process -- but the skein's core concept remains the same.

"This show is the real story of family members competing gameshow style to win the inheritance of a wealthy relative," Fleiss said. "It's going to be aspects of 'Willy Wonka' and 'Dallas.'"

Skein, targeted for a summer or 2004-05 bow, will be produced by Fleiss' Telepictures-based Next Entertainment.

For Maynard, the addition of a Fleiss skein gives the Eye another weapon in a reality arsenal that already includes some of the genre's biggest hits, including "Survivor" and "Big Brother." Net also has the Emmy-winning critical fave "The Amazing Race."

"Mike's proven he's a great producer," Maynard said. "He brings great ideas and a great vision, and he has a lot of specific ideas that are really imaginative and terrific."

Maynard said he also welcomed the chance to reunite with Next producers who've worked at CBS before, such as Scott Einziger ("The Amazing Race") and Lisa Levenson ("Big Brother 2").

"The Will" had been in development at ABC since late 2002, but the net ultimately decided not to go forward with the project. "They were going in a different direction," Fleiss said.

Fleiss continues to produce ABC's top-rated -- and oft-duplicated -- franchise "The Bachelor," and maintains an existing development relationship with the net.

Prolific producer said he's "psyched" about the Eye pickup and believes the net will provide the "right environment" to launch the skein.

"They do a great job launching and protecting their reality franchises," he said.

As for the content of "The Will," while skein will be sudsy, it won't go for camp, Fleiss said.

"The tone will be dead serious," he said. "This is a serious, life-changing event. The bottom line is, you're going to see some guy who hates Uncle Charlie take Uncle Charlie out of the competition. And that's going to be a lot sweeter than even a rose ceremony, where everyone's only known each other for a few weeks."

Next up for Next Entertainment: A new edition of "The Bachelorette" for ABC next month and second season of the WB's "High School Reunion" in March.

"The Will" was packaged by CAA, which reps Fleiss and Next.

Read the full article at:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117897322.html

Like this article? Variety.com has over 150,000 articles, 40,000 reviews and 10,000 pages of charts. Subscribe today!
http://www.variety.com/emailfriend
or call (866) MY-VARIETY.
Can't commit? Sign up for a free trial!
http://www.variety.com/emailfriend