AFI BLOG: Media and Technology

LA Times

A few years ago, television producers Steven Bochco and Mike Robin were lunching in Beverly Hills when Bochco began lamenting the grim development climate at broadcast networks. Robin, producer of “The Closer,” told Bochco he ought to meet TNT’s Michael Wright, the executive in charge of original content.

He did. Bochco, the force behind such television classics as “Hill Street Blues” and ” NYPD Blue,” pitched a series about a fundamentally flawed, dysfunctional criminal justice system. Wright said yes almost immediately, and TNT eventually ordered 10 episodes of “Raising the Bar,” which Bochco co-wrote with lawyer and author David Feige. The series, to premiere later this year, stars Jane Kaczmarek as a judge and Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Gloria Reuben as attorneys.

Bochco and Robin are part of an unprecedented creative expansion at TNT. Three years ago, the network had two original series in production; now it’s developing more than 20 scripts, five of which may air in 2009. Like many cable networks, TNT has snatched up top talent who were either being ignored or were disaffected by management at the broadcast networks. ….read on….