djdaffy1227
9-30-04, 10:05 AM
from www.eonline.com
Etheridge: Come to My Sitcom
by Josh Grossberg
Sep 29, 2004, 1:20 PM PT
Maybe they'll call it The M Word.
Melissa Etheridge is taking a break from music and taking a stab at the small screen, signing on to headline a half-hour ABC sitcom whose storyline echoes the raspy-throated rocker's own openly gay love life, her rep confirmed Wednesday
The untitled comedy won't be autobiographical, however. Instead, it will see Etheridge--who came out more than a decade ago--playing a lesbian music teacher living with her best friend, a straight guy, who suddenly finds herself in the role of a mom when his teenage daughter comes to live with them.
Emmy-winning Sopranos executive producer Brad Grey and That '70s Show writer-producer Linda Wallem will supervise production on the series. Wallem will also write the pilot.
The project from 20th Century Fox TV and Brad Grey TV was the subject of a bidding war among the broadcast networks, which the Alphabet ended up winning.
ABC's script commitment to the series is a part of a revamped strategy to raise itself out of the ratings dungeon, where it's dwelled the last several years. The net has already rebounded a little this season thanks to the premiere of J.J. Abrams' adventure series Lost, the highest-rated debut for an ABC drama in nearly a decade, and the continuing success of Extreme Makeover.
Musicians have become popular fodder of late with TV execs. ABC's deal for the Etheridge comedy comes a day after Fox announced it was teaming up with the Barenaked Ladies for a variety show.
The series will mark Etheridge's first major acting credit. Her only previous thespian experience was voicing a character in HBO's 1999 gay duck cartoon The Sissy Duckling and playing a hooker in the 1994 indie flick Teresa's Tattoo, directed by former partner Julie Cypher. Etheridge had also been long rumored for the starring role in a big-screen Janet Joplin biopic, but that project never got out of development. (Two rival Joplin productions are in the works, one starring Renée Zellweger, the other starring Pink.)
While she doesn't know much about acting, Etheridge, 43, knows a thing or two about motherhood.
The Yes I Am singer-songwriter and Cypher had two children both carried by Cypher and the result of a sperm donation by fellow musician David Crosby. They split in 2000 and share custody of their kids.
Two years later, Etheridge began dating actress Tammy Lynn Michaels. In September 2003, the couple made it official--or as official as it gets since California does not recognize same-sex unions--by getting hitched in a "domestic partnership" ceremony in Los Angeles. (Michaels has a recurring role on Showtime's lesbian-themed series, The L Word.)
Aside from her upcoming tube work, the two-time Grammy winner is also set to appear on the big screen.
She will costar with Demi Moore and Sissy Spacek as women who get sex-change operations and become guys in the movie Southern Comfort.
Designing Women creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason will make her feature directing debut on the flick, which also features Alan Cumming and Henry Thomas--Elliot of E.T. fame--as women who used to be guys. The gender-bending film starts shooting in January.
Etheridge: Come to My Sitcom
by Josh Grossberg
Sep 29, 2004, 1:20 PM PT
Maybe they'll call it The M Word.
Melissa Etheridge is taking a break from music and taking a stab at the small screen, signing on to headline a half-hour ABC sitcom whose storyline echoes the raspy-throated rocker's own openly gay love life, her rep confirmed Wednesday
The untitled comedy won't be autobiographical, however. Instead, it will see Etheridge--who came out more than a decade ago--playing a lesbian music teacher living with her best friend, a straight guy, who suddenly finds herself in the role of a mom when his teenage daughter comes to live with them.
Emmy-winning Sopranos executive producer Brad Grey and That '70s Show writer-producer Linda Wallem will supervise production on the series. Wallem will also write the pilot.
The project from 20th Century Fox TV and Brad Grey TV was the subject of a bidding war among the broadcast networks, which the Alphabet ended up winning.
ABC's script commitment to the series is a part of a revamped strategy to raise itself out of the ratings dungeon, where it's dwelled the last several years. The net has already rebounded a little this season thanks to the premiere of J.J. Abrams' adventure series Lost, the highest-rated debut for an ABC drama in nearly a decade, and the continuing success of Extreme Makeover.
Musicians have become popular fodder of late with TV execs. ABC's deal for the Etheridge comedy comes a day after Fox announced it was teaming up with the Barenaked Ladies for a variety show.
The series will mark Etheridge's first major acting credit. Her only previous thespian experience was voicing a character in HBO's 1999 gay duck cartoon The Sissy Duckling and playing a hooker in the 1994 indie flick Teresa's Tattoo, directed by former partner Julie Cypher. Etheridge had also been long rumored for the starring role in a big-screen Janet Joplin biopic, but that project never got out of development. (Two rival Joplin productions are in the works, one starring Renée Zellweger, the other starring Pink.)
While she doesn't know much about acting, Etheridge, 43, knows a thing or two about motherhood.
The Yes I Am singer-songwriter and Cypher had two children both carried by Cypher and the result of a sperm donation by fellow musician David Crosby. They split in 2000 and share custody of their kids.
Two years later, Etheridge began dating actress Tammy Lynn Michaels. In September 2003, the couple made it official--or as official as it gets since California does not recognize same-sex unions--by getting hitched in a "domestic partnership" ceremony in Los Angeles. (Michaels has a recurring role on Showtime's lesbian-themed series, The L Word.)
Aside from her upcoming tube work, the two-time Grammy winner is also set to appear on the big screen.
She will costar with Demi Moore and Sissy Spacek as women who get sex-change operations and become guys in the movie Southern Comfort.
Designing Women creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason will make her feature directing debut on the flick, which also features Alan Cumming and Henry Thomas--Elliot of E.T. fame--as women who used to be guys. The gender-bending film starts shooting in January.