'Blanco County' coming to USA network?

Ben Rehder                                   Rob Thomas

Austin novelist Ben Rehder's series of mysteries is in development as a TV series called Blanco County at the USA Network. And that's not the end of the Texas connection--Rob Thomas of Veronica Mars fame has been hired as the showrunner/writer and is executive producer along with Tom Welling (Smallville's Clark Kent).

Thomas, who went to high school in San Marcos and taught high school journalism in Austin, moved back to the Capital City a few years ago. Rehder says the two didn't meet in person until after Thomas had signed on to the project.  A pilot has already been penned. Now it's up to USA to give the series a thumbs up or down.

Blanco County is based on Rehder's six comic novels (he cites Carl Hiassen as his inspiration)  and "follows the story of John Marlin, a worldly pro baseball player who would rather spend his down time traveling the world than return to his small Texas hometown. After the death of his father, Marlin returns home to find a lot has changed since he left. The place is now booming with rich ranchers and tourists and there’s an uneasy alliance between the locals and the nouveau rich. Believing the local cops to be inept, Marlin runs for sheriff and surprisingly wins. A man who spent his entire life running away from his roots must now adapt to a new way of life." In the novels, Marlin is instead a game warden.

Will the show shoot in Central Texas if picked up to series?

"One big reason Rob was interested is because of the possibility of shooting here," Rehder says. "I don't know what the odds are, but I know that's what Rob would prefer."

'Little in Common' won't shoot in Austin

If you read my post earlier this week musing on whether Rob Thomas' Little in Common will shoot in Austin if picked up as a Fox series, the answer from show line producer Patricia Fass Palmer is "nope." The shoot for the show, which is set in Austin, would take place in Los Angeles. Expect word on whether the show is picked up next week. My gut says it will be given its strong cast and easy comparisons to Modern Family.

NEWS FLASH: Some sources (including Variety) say the series pickup is eminent.

Can Rob Thomas bring network TV back to Austin?

No, I'm not talking about the guy from some band (or at least that band). I'm talking about Rob Thomas, the guy who grew up in San Marcos and was a teacher before some middle-school novels changed his life. The guy from the Austin band Hey Zeus. The guy behind Veronica Mars. The guy who fairly recently moved back to Austin from Los Angeles.

Most important, I'm talking about Rob Thomas the guy whose single-camera Fox pilot Little in Common is set in Austin, but didn't shoot here (that's him on the pilot set above). Here's how it's described:

"With three families united through their kids’ Little League sports, it centers on the Wellers (Rob Corddry, Paula Marshall), who move from San Jose, Calif., to Austin, Texas, but find that their adjustment won't be quite that easy considering their Latino neighbors, the Pachecos (Lombardo Boyar, Alanna Ubach), have a radically different approach to child-rearing than they do, while their other new neighborhood acquaintances, the African American Burlesons (Kevin Hart, Gabrielle Union), take sports very seriously.

The question now is whether the show will be picked up (which seems likely given the cast, the folks behind it and similarities to Modern Family) and how much of the series will shoot in Austin. The first question will be answered at Fox upfronts--a dog and pony show for new shows--this coming Monday. The second is murkier. Yes, the show is set in Austin, and, yes, Thomas lives here now. But consider Kyle Killen whose short-lived Lone Star shot in Dallas and was set in Houston. Killen lives in Austin and made a last-minute attempt to move the shoot to Austin. It failed. Sometimes the creator doesn't have that much power.

But with a trained crew left over from Friday Night Lights and still no word on whether reshoots of Lifetime's Meet Jane will reap a series pickup (Lifetime had its upfronts in April), Austin is ripe for another network series. This could be it. Stay tuned.

FYI: We should also get word next Tuesday on ABC's Dallas-shot Good Christian Bitches (or whatever it's going to be called) and next Wednesday on TNT's Dallas reimagining as those networks stage upfronts.

Rob Thomas sets little league pilot

Austin resident Rob Thomas has sold a pilot to Fox titled Little in Common. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it's about families whose children play little league sports.

It's not all the guy behind Veronica Mars has in the works.

CW picks up Rob Thomas-produced show

We told you a while back that Rob Thomas the TV guy (not to be confused with the music guy) had moved back to Austin. This is now all the more intriguing with word from The Hollywood Reporter that Thomas, who got his street cred with Veronica Mars, will executive produce the show Beautiful Strangers for the CW.

The show is described as about: "Two young thieves who given a second chance as informants for a new FBI division."

Which begs the question: where will the show shoot? Bring it home, Rob.

Rob Thomas moves back to Austin

Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas has moved back to Austin, apparently tired of the Los Angeles grind. That tidbit was revealed recently at John Pierson's master class at the University of Texas, a source tells me. Also at the event, Thomas said he's still very much interested in developing a series called Waterloo, which has been described as a "coming-of-age story involving a rock band, and it is loosely based on Thomas' youthful adventures" with the Austin/San Marcos band Hey Zeus and somehow involves the South by Southwest Music Festival. But for now the series idea is dead in the water.

Thomas is also developing a show called Plymouth Rock for the CW with some of his former Veronica Mars cohorts. It's been described as "a soap set aboard a spaceship and revolves around young people headed to a distant planet with a mission to colonize and procreate to save the human race."

Rob Thomas develops 'Plymouth Rock' for the CW

Former Austinite Rob Thomas is developing a show called Plymouth Rock for the CW with some of his former Veronica Mars cohorts, Variety reports. No new word on Waterloo, his other planned project, which has very strong Austin ties.

Thomas is a former high school journalism teacher in Austin and a former member of the Austin/San Marcos band Hey Zeus. As we told you in August: "Waterloo, an hourlong laffer from scribe Thomas ... is described as a coming-of-age story involving a rock band, and it is loosely based on Thomas' youthful adventures."

Rob Thomas eyes own 'Waterloo'

OK, this is a very cool story about an Austin creative made good. You know Rob Thomas as the guy behind Veronica Mars and two versions of Cupid. But he's also a former high school journalism teacher in Austin and a former member of the Austin/San Marcos band Hey Zeus, which makes this bit from today's Variety about a new Starz show in development very sweet:

"Waterloo, an hourlong laffer from scribe Thomas ... is described as a coming-of-age story involving a rock band, and it is loosely based on Thomas' youthful adventures."

Now this is a project that should shoot in Austin. Will it? We'll have to wait and see.

Thanks to Shane Wells for the tip!