MAVERICK CARTER, the agent for Cavaliers F
LEBRON JAMES, said "
SURVIVOR'S REMORSE," said of the new TV series for which James is Exec Producer, "We weren’t going to make a show about LeBron’s life. That was never on the table." While the show is inspired by James' experiences, many of the story lines "will seem familiar to anyone who’s watched '
SPORTSCENTER' or followed the NBA," according to Joe Rhodes of the N.Y. TIMES. James said that it "didn't matter to him whether 'Survivor's Remorse was about basketball per se." Producer
MIKE O'MALLEY and everyone associated with the show
"make a point of emphasizing that ... beyond reading a few scripts, Mr.
James, although listed as an executive producer, had no direct input
into story lines." O'Malley said that Carter, who is one of the show's
producers, "was a regular, and welcome, presence on the set, offering
observations and suggestions on matters like which poses would be used
in a shoe endorsement photo and which video games players prefer." The show debuts Saturday on Starz and "revolves around Cam Calloway (played by
JESSIE T. USHER), an underrated point guard who, after playing for the league minimum in Memphis, has a breakout season, signs a big-money contract with Atlanta and, just like that, finds himself surrounded by the trappings and temptations that come with sports stardom." How Calloway -- and his family -- "deal with that sudden wealth and fame is what 'Survivor’s Remorse' is about." There are "dubious characters from Cam’s past who show up at inopportune moments, conflicts about endorsement deals and -- in an episode filmed long before" Vikings RB
ADRIAN PETERSON’s child-discipline controversy -- "a media uproar after Cam’s mother proudly talks about how she used to 'whup him with a Hot Wheels track' when he was a little boy." The show, "unable to secure permission from the league, never mentions it or specific franchises by name and never shows any footage from games, real or fictional" (
N.Y. TIMES, 9/28). Red Sox Chair
TOM WERNER is serving as an Exec Producer for the series (
THE DAILY).
TYSON'S TOON: In Las Vegas, John Katsilometes wrote "MIKE TYSON MYSTERIES," an upcoming eponymous cartoon series on Adult Swim starring the former boxer, features "a storyline that borrows from SCOOBY-DOO" and is "peppered with profanity and adult content." The series, which debuts Oct. 27, "follows Tyson as a mystery-solving sleuth." He "is joined by a pigeon that once was a man, voiced by NORM MACDONALD," along with several other regular characters. Each episode is 15 minutes. In the premiere, the group "tracks down the 'missing' author CORMAC MCCARTHY," and Macdonald "plays the pigeon as if in a constant inebriated state" (LAS VEGAS SUN, 9/28).
