Frank Darabont may have been a bit glum to see the first season of The Walking Dead that he had nothing to do with premiered Sunday to record ratings, but I’m sure he’s feeling better now that his next series, L.A. Noir, has been given a six-episode first-season order from TNT.
Based on John Buntin’s book L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America’s Most Seductive City, the show stars Dead-expatriate Jon Bernthal as an LAPD cop battling mobsters and department corruption in the late 1940s. Along for the ride are fellow Dead alum Jeffrey DeMunn, Milo Ventimiglia, that chick who had Electro-like lightning powers on Angel, and the never-not-awesome Neal McDonough, last seen dealing with Raylan Givens and a meat cleaver. Oh, and bonus: Simon Pegg is featured in the pilot!
I don’t think I’d call that cast a powerhouse group of players, but it is eclectic enough to make me curious what Frank’s up to. Film noir set in that era has been plenty covered in the movies — I’m up for a Chinatown/L.A. Confidential double feature any time you guys are — but maybe Darabont can breathe new life into the genre through episodic television. (Which is basically what he did with zombies via The Walking Dead.) No series premiere date has been set yet.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Follow Bob on Twitter: @robertbtaylor