Media Murder for a Monday

MOVIES

TJ Hooker may be coming to the big screen. Originally airing as a police procedural series on ABC and CBS for five years in the 1980s and starring William Shatner, the latest version is apparently going to take the form of an "action comedy."

• In another comedic take on crime fiction, Stephen Fry is going to star in a film adaptation of his novel, The Liar, the story of a a "hapless young man who goes to stay with his uncle (Fry) in Salzburg becoming embroiled in murder and mystery."

• John Grisham has agreed to allow his 1999 novel The Testament to be adapted for film "after a decade of saying no," according to Variety. The last time Grisham ended a self-imposed moratorium on selling a book to Hollywood, his first novel, A Time to Kill, went to Warner Brothers and New Regency in a near-record $6 million deal that led to a 1996 hit movie.

• Joseph Finder's Killer Instinct is coming to the big screen. The suspense novel tells the story of a young sales executive at an electronics giant in Boston who struggles to find the “killer instinct” it takes to navigate the corporate world.

• The Rome Fiction Fest is honoring Kenneth Brannagh, who will be in town promoting his TV series Wallander, with a lifetime achievement award.

• Speaking of Rome and "fetes," the 62nd Locarno Film Festival is honoring William Friedkin for lifetime achievement. Friedkin is noted for many films such as The French Connection and To Live and Die in L.A.

• BBC Films and David Thompson's Origin Pictures secured the film rights to the upcoming London-set novel Ordinary Thunderstorms from thriller-writer William Boyd.

TV

• From Karen Meek at EuroCrime:  Neil Cross, author of Natural History and Burial has had a new crime show, Luther, commissioned by the BBC to begin airing sometime in 2010.

• Crimespree Cinema takes a look at HBO's new detective comedy, Bored to Death, complete with a trailer. The half-hour show features Jason Schwartzman, who "decides to emulate his heroes from the novels of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett following a painful breakup with his girlfriend. Pretending to be an actual private detective, he starts taking cases – solving some and making others worse."

• Linda Hunt is joining the cast of NCIS, playing an efficient, hard-nosed former film industry technician who will oversee the "backroom support staff."

• While we're on the subject of new cast additions, Eddie Cibrian is being added to CSI Miami as an officer from the Hollywood division who transfers to the Miami team.

• In more casting news, Fox's Lie to Me is bringing back two guest stars from its first season in expanded roles for the second. Mekhi Phifer will be a series regular as an FBI agent, and Jennifer Beals will appear in several episodes as Assistant U.S. Attorney Zoe Landau.

• CBS continues to be the "traditional network," choosing to premiere almost all of its shows during the regular week in September normally set aside for that purpose. CSI Miami will premier Monday, September 21st; both NCIS shows Tuesday, September 22nd (old followed by new); Criminal Minds and CSI: NY on Wednesday, September 23rd; CSI and Mentalist on September 24th; Medium and Numbers on the 25th; Crimetime Saturday and 48 Hours Mystery on the 26th; and Cold Case on the 27th.

• NBC's fall premieres include Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on Wednesday, September 23rd and Law and Order and Southland on September 24th.

• And in an unusual premiere move, NBC will assist CBS with its new NCIS spin-off series NCIS: Los Angeles. USA has struck a deal with CBS to air the two NCIS episodes from this past season that set the stage for this fall’s newcomer.

• From Mystery Books News: ITV has ordered four additional episodes of Inspector Lewis, a spin-off of the long-running Inspector Morse series. It stars Kevin Whately as Detective Inspector Robert "Robbie" Lewis and Laurence Fox as Detective Sergeant James Hathaway of the Thames Valley Police based in Oxford (set five years after the death of Inspector Morse).

• Six episodes of the Canadian series The Murdoch Mysteries were purchased by American Public TV to air on selected U.S. public television stations. Thus far, only a few stations have picked up the series, but fans can check with their local station to request the program.

• ITV picked up a second 13-part season of the Law and Order UK series, starring Freema Agyeman, Jamie Bamber and Bradley Walsh.

• Fans of Law and Order: SVU can stop holding their breath. Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargita's continued participation in the series was in jeopardy due to contractual disagreements, but apparently a deal has been reached to keep them on board for another two years.

• AMC has ordered 12 episodes of Rubicon, a serialized political thriller (think Three Days of the Condor) starring James Badge Dale and Miranda Richardson, tentatively set to premiere in 2010.

WEB/RADIO

• James Grippando was recently on the Writer Roundtable podcast program.

• Sarah Weinman and WaPo book editor Ron Charles shared their ideas for great summer reads for Minnesota Public Radio.

• It's always fun to find interviews from around the world available on the Web. Here's another example: a Steve Moseby podcast from the Yorkshire Post about his new novel Still Bleeding.

• From Oline Cogdill at Mystery Scene online:  Imagination Theater's Fourth Annual Audio Drama Script Writing Contest included several winners who penned mysteries.

THEATER

• The Glyndebourne Opera is premiering Knight Crew, a work based on a Nicky Singer YA novel about a knife gang. Singer also penned the libretto, set to music by Julian Phillips.