Here's the Scoop...

Did you read or watch 'Watchmen'? If so, was the 'Watchmen' comic and overlong, bloated motion picture not enough for you? Are you ready for more 'Watchmen'? Get ready to thank Damon Lindelof and the HBO.

HBO has ordered a pilot for Watchmen, a new drama series from screenwriter Damon Lindelof that is based on the famed graphic novel of the same name.

The network has also ordered additional scripts for the series, noted The Hollywood Reporter.

The pilot and script commitment comes after Lindelof teased on Instagram that he started work on the project along with the opening of a writers room.

"Day One," the writer wrote Wednesday on Instagram alongside an image of a statue resembling a character from the comics.

HBO first began eyeing Lindelof to develop a series based on Watchmen in June. A fan of the 1986 comic book by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons, Lindelof has stated previously that Watchmen continues to influence his work. "From the flashbacks to the nonlinear storytelling to the deeply flawed heroes, these are all elements that I try to put into everything I write," he said in 2009.

The series is HBO's second attempt at developing show based on the DC Comics property that features characters such as Doctor Manhattan, Nite Owl, Silk Spectre and Rorschach investigating the murder of one of their own before uncovering a dark conspiracy.

Watchmen was previously adapted into a feature film by director Zack Snyder in 2009. The movie grossed $185 million worldwide.

Lindelof is best known for his work on Lost, Prometheus, Star Trek Into Darkness and HBO series The Leftovers which concluded in June.

I didn't read it, but I am still watching the movie. Man, oh man, is it a long movie!

Be Well,
Steve

Comments? Questions? Nooz? Email Steve



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Bernie Casey, actor and former NFL player, dies at 78
Bernie Casey, the actor and former NFL player who starred in several of the most well known films of the past 40 years, has died at the age of 78.

Casey passed away after a brief illness at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Bor nin West Virginia in 1939 and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Casey was a standout athlete and earned an athletic scholarship to Bowling Green State University, where he helped the team win a national championship in 1959.

The San Francisco 49ers scooped up Casey by making him the ninth overall pick in the 1961 NFL Draft. He went on to have an impressive pro football career with 359 catches, 5,444 yards and 40 touchdowns before hanging up the cleats at the age of 30 to focus on acting, poetry and painting.

"I was big, agile, fast and a dedicated athlete," Casey said in 1999. "But I always wanted to be a painter."

As he pursued his visual art, Casey also excelled in performance art by acting in dozens of movies over the next few decades, including some of the most heralded in their genre, such as blaxploitation classic Cleopatra Jones and 80's comedy classic Revenge of the Nerds.

He also starred in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, a comedic parody of blaxploitation movies that helped launch the careers of Kennan Ivory Wayans and Chris Rock.

Regarding the switch from athlete to artist, Casey once said he had too much life to live to be pegged only as a jock.

"When that sojourn is over and you're 32 or something, when most people are just beginning to understand who they are, what they can do and what life is all about, you have been considered in the world of sports a dinosaur," he said during an interview for NFL Films. "From that point on, it's a downward spiral into the abyss of non-consideration and obscurity and a lot of other things that they never recover from. I want to think in my instance, it's the beginning. There's a lot of life left after 32."


'Law & Order' icon Sam Waterston to guest star on 'SVU' Season 19
Sam Waterston will reprise his role of Jack McCoy during Season 19 of Law & Order: SVU.

Waterston, 76, played the New York City prosecutor for 16 seasons on NBC's flagship procedural, Law & Order, from 1994 to 2010. He has previously returned as McCoy in three episodes of SVU.

No details about his latest appearance in the franchise were immediately released. The new season of SVU -- starring Mariska Hargitay and Ice-T -- is to premiere Sept. 27.

Waterston is currently starring on Netflix's Grace & Frankie.


LOOSE LIPS:
"Maybe it's nice that you continue to love it instead of us tampering with something that went pretty well."
--Jerry Seinfeld, on why there will never be a Seinfeld reunion, to Entertainment Tonight



??? Guess Who ???
Which media mogul is preparing for her '60 Minutes' debut?


Laurence Fishburne, Gina Torres officially announce split
Laurence Fishburne and Gina Torres have announced that they officially split in the fall of last year after 14 years of marriage.

"With heavy hearts, Laurence and I quietly separated and began the dissolution of our marriage in the early fall of last year," Torres said in a statement to People magazine. There are no bad guys here. Only a love story with a different ending than either of us had expected."

"Happily, however, our family remains intact and we will continue to raise our daughter together with love and joy and awe. As well as raise each other up with respect and love and the continued understanding that we're in this together, if not side by side," Torres continued.

Fishburne and Torres tied the knot in 2002 and share 16-year-old daughter Delilah together. Fishburne is also a father to son Langston, 30, and daughter Montana, 27, from a previous marriage. On screen, the pair starred in The Matrix Reloaded together and portrayed a married couple on NBC's Hannibal from 2013 to 2015.

Recently, Torres was spotted kissing another man while having a lunch date at the Sweet Butter cafe in Los Angeles, Page Six reported.


Anthony Michael Hall sentenced to 3 years probation for assaulting neighbor
Actor Anthony Michael Hall has been sentenced to three years summary probation and 40 hours of community service on a charge he assaulted his neighbor.

The Breakfast Club star pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor count of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, E! News reported.

Hall was originally charged in Nov. 2016 after he reportedly pushed his neighbor in Playa Del Rey, Calif. The act caused the neighbor to fall and break his wrist, The Wrap reported.

The neighbor, Richard Samson, also sued Hall, claiming the 49-year-old "assaulted, intimidated and battered" him.

Hall was previously arrested in Sept. 2011 for disturbing the peace following a confrontation with a fellow resident at his Los Angeles condominium complex.


??? Guess Who ???
Which media mogul is preparing for her '60 Minutes' debut?

Oprah Winfrey is gearing up for her 60 Minutes debut.

The 63-year-old television personality picked up her CBS identification card and met with staff this week ahead of her first episode as a special correspondent on the long-running newsmagazine show.

"It's official. Got my CBS id card today. First story on the air this Sunday. #60minutes," she captioned a photo of herself outside CBS headquarters Tuesday.

Winfrey followed up the next day by posting a picture of herself working with the editing team.

"Meeting in edit room with Team. #60minutes First story, this Sunday," she wrote alongside the snapshot.

Winfrey announced in January that she would join 60 Minutes. She said at the time that she was "so excited and proud" to be a part of the series.

"I've been a big admirer of 60 Minutes since my days as a young reporter," the star said in a statement.

"At a time when people are so divided, my intention is to bring relevant insight and perspective, to look at what separates us, and help facilitate real conversations between people form different backgrounds," she added.

CBS announced last week that Winfrey's debut episode will kick off 60 Minutes' 50th season, according to Deadline. The subject of her segment is being kept secret.