Goodbye, J.R. Ewing

With word of the death of Larry Hagman--in Dallas with Linda Gray and Patrick Duffy reportedbly at his beside--here's a short piece I wrote for The Dallas Morning News in 2009 about Hagman's induction into the Texas Film Hall of Fame. Oh, and I took this horrible photo, too.

 

Hagman remembers ‘Dallas’ days

BY JOE O’CONNELL

Special to the Dallas Morning News

       AUSTIN--In the winter of 1978, Larry Hagman drove the cast of the new television show “Dallas” around the city of Dallas in a converted bread truck showing them dive bars and much fancier restaurants. He was the only native Texan among them, and felt it his duty, his television wife Linda Gray said Thursday as Hagman was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame.

       “He’s’ the consummate actor,” she said of television’s J.R. Ewing. “He’s funny. He’s absolutely adorable. He’s the man you love to hate, and he’s my best friend.”

       He also apparently makes a great pitch man for efforts to expand Texas’ incentive program aimed at attracting more movies to film in Texas. As Hagman, told it, he parading around the Texas Capitol this week handing out $10,000 bills (with his own photo on them).

       “You have all these fans here and you’re going to get your money back a hundred time over,” Hagman said as he echoed the night’s clarion call. “You can’t miss.”

       Hagman, looking gaunt from a 1995 liver transplant, said younger fans today are more likely to remember him from “I Dream of Jeannie” than “Dallas,” but the latter surely left the larger cultural mark.

       Also inducted into the hall of fame were Powers Boothe, an MFA grad of SMU and Snyder native; “Twilight” director Catherine Hardwicke, a McAllen native; and Billy Bob Thornton, a native of Arkansas? No worries; his roles as Davy Crockett in “The Alamo” and as a high school football coach in the big-screen “Friday Night Lights” earned him the Tom Mix Honorary Texan Award, so named for the western star who actually hailed from Pennsylvania.

        They walked a roped-off red carpet in a tent on the tarmac of Austin’s former airport turned by the Austin Film Society into a film studio, while patrons who paid up to $500 to bask in the glow held up digital cameras trying to get a shot through the phalanx of television cameras. A bartender aptly named Estrella (star in Spanish) served up endless libations.

       The lesser-known ducked past the cameras with little notice. Among those was Don Stokes, the Dallas film pro and president of the Texas Motion Picture Alliance, a film lobby group aiming to convince the Legislature to increase spending for its financial incentives program. The  legislation passed unanimously out of House committee this week.

       “There are a couple of television series pilots (at least one eyeing Dallas) that, if they bill passes in time, we have a significant shot at getting here,” Stokes said.

       Event emcee Thomas Haden Church termed the legislation a “call to arms,” noting that a West Texas-set film he is a part of is about to shoot in Australia. “I’m a Texan and I’d really like to see the Texas film industry flourish,” he said.

       Boothe spoke of growing up on a cotton farm in Snyder and, in a fit of teenage rebellion, telling his father, “I’m not sure what I’m going to do with my life, but it’s sure not going to be this. So I chose the movie business.”

       The hall of fame ceremonies unofficially open the South By Southwest Film Festival, which begins today and runs through March 21 in Austin.

Mira Sorvino comes to Austin for TNT's 'Trooper' pilot

If it seems like Austin is heating up as a shooting locale all of a sudden, you're right. First we've got Terrence Malick running around town with a string of big-time actors including Natalie Portman and Ryan Gosling for the music-industry-set film formerly known as Lawless, and David Gordon Green is supposed to start filming Joe with Nicolas Cage any minute now. Now add to the mix a TNT television pilot called Trooper starring Mira Sorvino and Jay Hernandez.

Extras calls are out amid talk of a quick shoot Nov. 6-13. TNT's official description of the show is: "Trooper centers on a recently divorced female state trooper who is as unconventional at work as she is at home raising her three kids. Her partner on the job is a widowed father who has a much more by-the-book approach to policing." A pilot was shot last year for CBS, but they declined, so this is actually a second series pilot. No word on whether Austin would have a chance to host the filming if it goes to series. But with ABC Family's The Lying Game just closing shop on its second season here, word is clearly getting out to the TV community about Austin.

Oh, did I mention that Robert Rodriguez is doing a little Sin City 2 shooting right now, this minute (through Nov. 8) in Austin, too? It's percolating in the Austin film/TV biz, bub.

TNT's 'Dallas' gets second season

TNT announced today that it will give Dallas a second, 15-episode season to air in 2013. It's good news for the city of Dallas where the show's first season was shot. The original Dallas from way back when was mostly shot in Los Angeles, so it's a major Texas win for a Texas icon. Janis Burklund of the Dallas Film Commission confirms on Facebook that it will continue to lens in the Metroplex.

What's most interesting in TV Guide's report is that Dallas is the most viewed new series this summer on basic cable. I credit it all to the return of J.R. Ewing and the rest of the original cast. Larry Hagman steals every scene they give him.

TNT will indeed shoot the series 'Dallas' in Dallas

Yes, TNT's Dallas will indeed shoot in Dallas. Read more about it in my Dallas Morning News column from last Friday.


Here's the official press release from the Dallas Film Commission:

Warner Horizon Television has selected Dallas, Texas as the location for TNT’s Dallas, an all-new series based upon one of the most popular television dramas of all time. TNT announced Friday that it has ordered a full season of 10 episodes and will give viewers their first look at the new Dallas tonight, Monday, July 11, with a sneak peek during the season premieres of the network’s blockbuster hits The Closer, which starts at 8 p.m. Central, and Rizzoli & Isles, which airs at 9 p.m. Central. The new series will show off the vibrant city that Dallas is today.

TNT’s new Dallas brings a new generation of stars together with cast members from the original drama series. The new Dallas stars Josh Henderson (90210), Jesse Metcalfe (John Tucker Must Die), Jordana Brewster (Fast & Furious), Julie Gonzalo (Veronica Mars) and Brenda Strong (Desperate Housewives), and they will be joined by iconic stars Patrick Duffy, Linda Gray and Larry Hagman as J.R. Ewing.

Executive producer Cynthia Cidre, who wrote the acclaimed film The Mambo Kings and executive produced the television series Cane, wrote the pilot for the new Dallas. TNT’s series is based on the original series created by David Jacobs. Michael M. Robin (The Closer) directed and executive produced the pilot.

The original Dallas aired from 1978 to 1991 and centered on the Ewing family, a cattle and oil dynasty occupying the expansive Southfork Ranch in Texas. A long and bitter rivalry between brothers J.R. Ewing (Hagman) and Bobby Ewing (Duffy) eventually led to J.R. losing control of most of the Ewing industries. In the new Dallas, this explosive rivalry now lives on through another generation, with the future of the family fortune in the hands of the Ewing offspring: cousins John Ross Ewing (Henderson), the son of J.R. and ex-wife Sue Ellen (Gray), and Christopher Ewing (Metcalfe), the adopted son of Bobby. Brewster stars as Elena, who is involved in a love triangle with Christopher and John Ross. Gonzalo stars as Christopher’s fiancée, Rebecca. And Strong stars as Ann, Bobby’s wife.

The series is expected to have a significant financial impact on the city; create many jobs for crew, actors, extras and vendors; and increase tourism.

"The City of Dallas is very excited to once again have an iconic television series named after our City and pleased that we could assist in making Dallas not only the obvious location choice, but a good choice for the bottom line too," said Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Pauline Medrano. Now that TNT has officially placed the series order, Warner Horizon Television can move forward with contracts to finalize the Dallas shoot. Pre-production and production on the series are expected to begin later this year.

TNT picks up 'Dallas'; to give sneak peek Monday

As predicted, TNT has picked up Dallas to series for a 10-episode shoot to premiere in summer 2012. No confirmation yet of a Dallas shoot in Dallas, but after the city of Dallas' grant to upgrade a warehouse for the show, it looks more than probable.

TNT will give viewers a sneak peek of the show Monday during the season premieres of The Closer at 8 p.m. and Rizzoli & Isles at 9 p.m.

Also a web site is up with more info on the show.


Here's what they said in a press release:

TNT has given the greenlight to Dallas, an all-new series based upon one of the most popular television dramas of all time, about the bitter rivalries and family power struggles within a Texas oil and cattle-ranching dynasty. Famous for its ratings-grabbing cliffhangers, the original series was known for its wealth, seduction, scandal and intrigues. Set in the big state of Texas, TNT’s new Dallas — from Warner Horizon Television — also lives life large and in the fast lane and brings a new generation of stars together with cast members from the original drama series.

The new Dallas stars Josh Henderson (90210), Jesse Metcalfe (John Tucker Must Die), Jordana Brewster (Fast & Furious), Julie Gonzalo (Veronica Mars) and Brenda Strong (Desperate Housewives), and they will be joined by iconic stars Patrick Duffy, Linda Gray and Larry Hagman as J.R. Ewing.

TNT has ordered 10 episodes of DALLAS, which is slated to premiere in summer 2012.

SHOT IN TEXAS: Decision on 'Dallas' series looms

Larry Hagman and Linda Gray at the Texas Film Hall of Fame (crappy photo by me).

UPDATE: TNT PICKS UP DALLAS.

My SHOT IN TEXAS column from today's Dallas Morning News

Verdict on ‘Dallas’ TV series should come soon

By JOE O’CONNELL
Special to the Dallas Morning News
Filmnewsbyjoe@yahoo.com
@joemoconnell on Twitter
joeoconnell.com

When will TNT decide the fate of the new Dallas television series? The standard reply is “any day now,” and that day is looming.

A North Texas shoot is looking more than probable given a $235,000 economic development grant from the city of Dallas to add air conditioning to a property at 2901 S. Lamar in exchange for six months of free rent for a television or film project. Developer Jack Matthews owns the property.

The agreement asks TNT and Warner Horizon to let the city know about a North Texas shoot by July 15 and sets an Aug. 1 deadline, says Janis Burklund of the Dallas Film Commission.

“They’ve always said the show wouldn’t air until July 2012,” Burklund said. “People shouldn’t get too excited that there’s not an official announcement yet.”

The city agreement requires a TV or film project to go in by July 2012 or the grant will not be paid.

“It’s difficult to find a warehouse in the right part of town that has air conditioning and is not too loud,” Burklund said. “We wrote [the grant] obviously with Dallas in mind, but it could work for other television or film projects.”

The Dallas Film Commission estimates that each TV episode shot on location brings in $1 million in direct local spending. TNT has not said how many episodes of Dallas will be ordered.

The grant agreement rankled the Studios at Las Colinas management, particularly comments that their facility in Irving doesn’t have the space to accommodate Dallas. Burklund said she heard the size complaint from producers of both Dallas and Good Christian Belles. Pilots for both shot in North Texas, but the latter series will lens in Los Angeles.

“That is exactly what we are: a soundstage development,” said Jennifer Loeb King, vice president of business affairs for the studios. “Secondly, we are a private studio facility with no city dollars given ever to us in 30 years. With the economy the way it is, it just seems that the owner of South Lamar should foot the bill privately or get a loan or whatever but not use city tax dollars to put in air conditioning on a building he owns and can benefit from into the future even if the series is cancelled.”

The Studios at Las Colinas previously has rented space for production of Prison Break, The Deep End and Lone Star.

“We recognize that all projects will not utilize the Studios at Las Colinas,” Loeb King said. “We believe in fair competition and would have preferred an opportunity to show all that we have to offer.”

“The more we build the business in general, the more that will be here for everyone,” Burklund said of an additional studio facility. She added that additional projects continue to seriously consider North Texas as a location for shoots as early as fall.

Bonus footage

Austin-based Alamo Drafthouse’s annual Rolling Road Show brings the inflatable screen poolside to the Day’s Inn on I-35 East in Hillsboro for a showing tomorrow of Bottle Rocket , the 1996 Wes Anderson film that shot at the location. It’s also part of efforts to keep the location from closing. More information is at drafthouse.com/movies/rrs_bottle_rocket/Austin. … One project that appears unlikely to shoot in Texas is Lone Ranger , a Disney film that scouted primarily in West Texas. The reinvention of the classic tale focusing on Tonto as portrayed by Johnny Depp is likely bound for Utah, sources say. More generous filming incentives appeared to tip the deal. … Carol Pirie steps down this summer as deputy director of the Texas Film Commission after 23 years — including multiple stints as acting film commish. She notes that Lonesome Dove was in production when she started, and she leaves just after rooting for Texas-shot The Tree of Life as it won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes International Film Festival.

TNT to decide on 'Dallas' pickup this month

That's the word from Patrick Duffy, who says the Dallas series would start shooting in October if picked up. He doesn't say whether the series, like the pilot, would lens in Dallas.

'Good Christian Belles' goes to LA; 'Dallas' awaits verdict

This just in: Dallas-set Good Christian Belles (formerly Good Christian Bitches and also GCB) will shoot in Los Angeles, according to Janis Burklund of the Dallas Film Commission. The pilot shot in Dallas, and the show was picked up this week by ABC. "We always knew this one would be more difficult to keep here given it’s large cast and that it will be heavily shot on interior sets," Burklund said.

An ABC spokesperson said an official announcement of the filming location could come next week.

TNT did not mention the modern-day Dallas pilot at its upfront today. Burklund says no need to worry, but there are some rumblings it too may film in LA.

"The Dallas pilot just finished shooting and was produced for next season," she said. "They didn’t intend to have it in time for this season, so I wouldn’t have expected it to have been mentioned in TNT’s upfronts today. Believe we’ll know before too long about a series pickup, but can’t say exactly when. Can assure you Dallas isn’t out of it, and we are still working hard to ensure it stays here.

SHOT IN TEXAS: ‘Dallas’ pilot begins 12-day shoot

My Dallas Morning News column (which actually runs Saturday but is already up on the Web site--oddly minus my byline).--Joe

NOTE: Larry Hagman on Sunday at 8 p.m. will be at the Texas Theatre, where the original Dallas series is being screened two episodes at a time weekly.

SHOT IN TEXAS: ‘Dallas’ pilot begins 12-day shoot here next week

BY JOE O'CONNELL
filmnewsbyjoe@yahoo.com
joeoconnell.com
@joemoconnell on Twitter

The TNT series pilot for Dallas begins a 12-day North Texas shoot next week. The pilot follows the next generation of Ewings led by Jesse Metcalfe, Josh Henderson and Jordana Brewster. Larry Hagman, Charlene Tilton, Steve Kanaly, Linda Gray and Patrick Duffy from the original series are also on board.

“Just because a pilot shoots here doesn’t mean it’s going to stay if picked up,” warned Janis Burklund of the Dallas Film Commission. She has seen network shows such as Fox’s Good Guys come and go. Indeed, most of the original Dallas series was shot in Hollywood.

Dallas-set and Dallas-shot ABC pilot GCB, starring Leslie Bibb, Kristin Chenoweth and Annie Potts, recently wrapped production. Word of a series pickup is expected by mid-May.

A couple of canceled series shot in North Texas are also staging small-scale comebacks. The five unaired Chase episodes shot in Dallas will be broadcast beginning Saturday on NBC. And Lone Star creator Kyle Killen is staging a free screening of the fourth through sixth episodes of the canceled Fox series this Sunday in Austin at the Alamo Drafthouse-Ritz.

In 2009, Hagman, Dallas’ J.R. Ewing, wandered the Texas Capitol giving out fake $10,000 bills with his photo on them, successfully prodding legislators to increase filming incentives funding. But incentives are no longer such an easy sell.

With six weeks to go in the session, the Texas Legislature is hashing out the future of a filming incentives program that in 2009 awarded two-year funding of $60 million — with another $2 million for operating expenses and funding of a state film archive. This time the Senate is looking at two-year funding of $10 million, while the House is considering increasing that two-year figure to $30 million plus that spare $2 million for operations and film archive. The decision will likely be up to a House-Senate conference committee.

The industry, in a study expected to be released next week, contends the film, television and video-game industry has had a $1.1 billion impact since incentives were first funded in 2007, and a direct in-state spend of just less than $600 million. The study commissioned by the Texas Association of Business with the help of the University of Texas considers spending through 2010.

“It shows how effective we are at creating jobs,” said Don Stokes, president of the lobbying group Texas Motion Picture Alliance. “It shows the Texas program is the most efficient program out there.”

Competing states also are looking at either cutting back or eliminating filming incentives in this tight budget year. Still, New Mexico is considering a $45 million per year cap, far more than ever offered in Texas.

“Our program was designed from the beginning to be very conservative,” Stokes said, noting Texas’ strengths in trained film crews and varied filming locales. “As other programs across the country pull back and come back into reality, it makes Texas that much more competitive. We hope we end up with enough to keep Texas in the game.”
Burklund agrees. “We all know we’re going to take a cut,” she said. “I’m not panicking about it. We’re doing the best we can given the circumstances.”

Bonus footage

Dallas filmmakers Barak Epstein, Adam Donaghey, Jason Reimer and Eric Steele, working together as Aviation Cinemas, are launching what they term “crowd-funded” indie films and producing them directly from Oak Cliff’s Texas Theatre. The first project is The Verdigris, a music documentary executive-produced by Bradley Beesley (Okie Noodling) and featuring music by Beau Jennings. A donations-only performance by Jennings opened the effort at the Texas Theatre on Friday.

SHOT IN TEXAS: TV series poised to begin shooting in D-FW

My Dallas Morning News SHOT IN TEXAS column from today.

BY JOE O’CONNELL
Special to the Dallas Morning News

ABC is expected to begin production in the Dallas-Fort Worth area Monday on the pilot of Good Christian Bitches, and TNT’s reboot of the Dallas TV series will start production in April.

The pilots are positive signs for the North Texas film and television industry, which went from hosting production on three network series—The Good Guys, Lone Star and Chase—to none.

Dallas seems like a lock to be more than a pilot since original Dallas stars Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray signed on. The new show follows their grown-up children, with two Desperate Housewives stars leading the cast--Josh Henderson as John Ross and Jesse Metcalfe as Christopher.

Good Christian Bitches follows the “high school mean girl” (Leslie Bibb) who returns to Dallas after her divorce and runs into the old gang, which includes Kristen Chenoweth (Glee), Annie Potts (Designing Women), Miriam Shor (Damages), and Marisol Nichols (24).

The show’s title, taken from Kim Gatlin’s book on which it is based, is likely to change, but not before it has generated some national controversy. Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association sent out an email to members seeking petition signatures protesting the show even before it shoots.

“Disney-owned ABC has no reservations about creating hate speech against Christians,” Wildmon wrote, “but you can be sure they would never consider a show called Good Muslim B-tches or Good Jewish B-tches.

ABC spokesperson Erin Felentzer said every show in the pilot stage is considered to have a working title and offered no comment on the protest.

“I never thought that name would stick,” said Janis Burklund, head of the Dallas Film Commission, who remains more concerned about how much the Texas Legislature may cut funding for filming incentives program aimed at attracting networks to shoot in the state from the current two-year $60 million total to as little as $10 million.

“We’re more concerned about the future,” said Burklund, since the current batch of pilots will fall under current funding. “At least one if not more series have backed off while they wait and see what happens.” Details on productions needs for both shows are at the commission’s web site, filmdfw.com.

The Good Christian Bitches pilot from Darren Starr (Sex and the City) is actually what’s called a “pilot presentation,” essentially half a pilot that showcases its potential as a full series. But the current star power behind the show gives it a strong shot of making ABC’s fall schedule.

Earlier this month during Texas Film Hall of Fame ceremonies in Austin, film and television producer Scott Robbe said a clause barring incentives for projects showing Texas in a bad light may be what’s really keeping many investors away at this point.

“That’s got to go!” said Robbe, who recently moved to Austin where he is working on an upcoming Austin shoot of a nursing home-set horror thriller called The Home. It’s expected to feature Elijah Wood, Michelle Rodriguez, Ed Asner, Hal Holbrook, Louise Fletcher and Cloris Leachman. Robbe is also working with Gus Van Sant on a documentary about the AIDS advocacy group ACT UP.

TNT's 'Dallas' will indeed shoot in Dallas

This just in from the Dallas Film Commission:

Warner Horizon Television has selected Dallas as the location for the pilot of TNT’s new incarnation of the popular television drama Dallas. Executive producer Cynthia Cidre, who wrote The Mambo Kings and executive produced the television series Cane, wrote the pilot based on characters created by David Jacobs. Michael M. Robin (The Closer, Rizzoli & Isles, Nip/Tuck) who also executive produces will direct.

The original Dallas ran from 1978 to 1991 and followed the Ewing family of Southfork. The new version will focus on the Ewing offspring; J.R. Ewing’s son John Ross (Josh Henderson of Desperate Housewives), and Christopher, the adopted son of Bobby and Pam Ewing (Jesse Metcalfe of Desperate Housewives) — as they clash over the family dynasty’s future. Jordana Brewster (Fast & Furious) stars as Elena, who is involved in a love triangle with Christopher and John Ross. Julie Gonzalo (Veronica Mars) stars as Christopher’s fiancée Rebecca. The updated Dallas will feature original series stars Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray. Hagman gained worldwide fame for his portrayal of oil baron J.R. Ewing. Gray played J.R.’s wife Sue Ellen Ewing, while Duffy portrayed J.R.’s younger brother Bobby.

"We are so excited that we get to shoot the pilot episode of Dallas in Dallas,” said Cidre and Robin. “The city has changed so much since the original series and we can't wait to show our audience the fun, the culture, the architecture, the restaurants, the landscapes and the people that make Dallas such a vibrant and cinematic city." The pilot alone is expected to have a significant financial impact on the city and create many jobs for crew, actors, extras and vendors. Pre-production will start immediately, with shooting set to begin in late April.

The Dallas Film Commission is the official film commission for the Greater Dallas area. It mission includes marketing and promoting the area to content creators; serving as the primary liaison between the industry, government and the community as well as educating, promoting and advocating for growth of the local industry. In November 2009 the film commission transitioned to the City of Dallas Office of Economic Development to provide a more synergistic approach to growing the City’s targeted media industries, which has resulted in an unprecedented increase in production, particularly in television.

Warner Horizon Television (WHTV) is one of the industry’s fastest-growing television companies, specializing in the creation of scripted series for cable and primetime reality series for both network and cable. Founded in 2006, this second production entity allows the Warner Bros. Television Group to expand its programming offerings and explore creative options made possible under a new business model. WHTV is currently producing more than a dozen projects. Its unscripted shows include The Bachelor; The Bachelorette; Bachelor Pad and the upcoming Take the Money and Run for ABC; The Voice for NBC and Randy Jackson Presents America’s Best Dance Crew for MTV, among others. Scripted programs from WHTV include Rizzoli & Isles and Memphis Beat for TNT, Pretty Little Liars and the upcoming The Lying Game for ABC Family.

J.R. does 'Dallas'; will 'Dallas' do Dallas?

This just in from The Hollywood Reporter: Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray will reprise their Dallas roles in TNT's reboot of the series, which this time is focused on the kids. Also in the cast are Josh Henderson (Desperate Housewives) and Jordana Brewster (Fast & Furious) as a couple of those crazy Ewing kids.

Earlier reports had Hagman, aka J.R. Ewing unlikely to join the crew after money haggles. Now the big question remains: how much of Dallas will shoot in the actual Dallas? Don't be surprised if that's the clarion call for efforts to keep the Texas film incentives program fully funded by the Texas Legislature.

TNT's 'Dallas' looms, but will it shoot in Big D?

Still no word on where the TNT reboot of Dallas will shoot and how much of it will be actually in Dallas. The last word I had was incentive-rich Louisiana and New Mexico are very much in consideration. This from today's Variety is interesting because it makes clear production is not very far away:

"If summer sensation Rizzoli & Isles came as a pleasant but somewhat unexpected surprise to TNT, Dallas won't have that luxury.

The iconic series is receiving a Turner reboot as production on the pilot begins in only a few months. At the Television Critics Tour in Pasadena, TNT-TBS programming chief Michael Wright told Daily Variety that expectations remain extraordinarily high, but he believes writer Cynthia Cidre has offered a compelling updated scenario to capture auds not familiar with what made 'Who Shot J.R?' a national catchphrase.

'I don't want to give away the plot, but she found something authentic to business and to Dallas that allows them to trade on the same dynamic of the super wealthy,' Wright said. 'Dallas was always something of an Upstairs Downstairs paradigm. If it wasn't the rich and poor, it was attitude – entitlement versus a populist point of view. This covers all that.' "

'Dallas' brings the Ewing family back to TV

TV Squad says the new Dallas pilot ordered up by TNT will focus on offspring of the "bitter rivals and brothers J.R. and Bobby Ewing, who clash over the future of the Ewing dynasty while the fate of Southfork itself weighs in the balance.''

No word on how much if any of the pilot will be shot in North Texas. The long-running original series primarily shot in Los Angeles.

Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick scout Austin for TNT show

The show is tentatively titled Zapata, Texas. Read all about it in my SHOT IN TEXAS column in the Dallas Morning News.