He brought the world of touring rockers to vivid life in Almost Famous, so it seems only natural for Cameron Crowe to explore another facet of that world for his first real stab at a TV series. He’s teaming with J.J. Abrams’ company to make a pilot currently called Roadies for US cable channel Showtime.
The show, which is described by Nikki Finke as an ensemble comedy set during a US rock band’s tour, is now in development, with Crowe planning to direct the pilot before the year is out. Few other details are available yet, but Abrams’ Bad Robot gang is involved. That doesn’t mean Abrams himself will be directly working on the show – he’s a little busy on a certain big franchise project right now – but chances are he’ll at least offer an occasional thumbs up if he and Crowe bump into one another at Robot headquarters.
While Crowe will be creating the series, thirtysomething / My So-Called Life / Once And Again writing / producing veteran Winnie Holzman (who coincidentally appeared in a tiny role in Crowe’s Jerry Maguire) will handle the day-to-day running of the series should Showtime pick It up. We’d say there’s a healthy chance of that at this point, although even with Abrams’ company aboard there’s no guarantee of success: all the new shows he lent his name to this year, including Believe and Almost Human, were cancelled.
Crowe, meanwhile, is busy finishing his latest, still-untitled romantic drama, which stars Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone and Rachel McAdams. That one will arrive on UK screens on March 13 next year.