'Sonny' finally set for HBO

The conjecture is Lawrence Wright's God Save Texas will make fun of Rick Perry, Wendy Davis and company, and it very well might. But the truth is the series just put into development by HBO dates back to 2000 when Pulitzer-winning author Wright penned a screenplay called Sonny's Last Shot with hopes of directing it himself. Then he transformed the screenplay into a stage play after HBO at that time nixed the story.

That story was inspired by Texas Democrats hiding out in 1979 to kill a bill in the Legislature, only in Wright's story they hid out in the back of the Alamo. Right before the stage play premiered in 2003, Dems did in fact run off--to Oklahoma--to unsuccessfully kill a bill.

The potential HBO series is described thus: "... an idealistic cowboy who, looking to save his ranch and marriage, tries to get elected to the Texas Legislature, where he becomes the target of the powerful energy lobby and learns how to survive in the crazy, brutal world of Texas politics." The original screenplay also had that cowboy, Rep. Sonny Lamb of West Texas, fathering a love child with feisty Rep. Angela Jackson of Houston, a character with a hint of Rep. Dawnna Dukes of Austin, Wright previously said.

Back in 2000 the play got a table reading with newby actor Dan Gattis taking the lead role. Gattis went on to serve as a state representative from 2002-2010.  His father, Dan A. Gattis, is currently Williamson County Judge.

'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."

'Corpus Christi' is back in development hell

The word was Richard Kelly would shoot his next film Corpus Christi in both Corpus Christi and Austin in the summer. That would the summer of 2012. Clearly it never happened. Here's the first real mention I've seen of an obvious why--which beats the conjecture on imdb.com that the film is about Jesus and his "roving band of homosexual apostles"--from Variety: "the cast never came together and the project remains in development."

Sounds simple enough. Here's betting the film pops up to ride a tasty wave again in a year or two.

San Antonio-set 'Desperado' disappears into development hell

I keep meaning to mention that Desperado, the San Antonio-set CBS pilot in development shall at this time remain in development. In other words, don't look for filming to commence along the Riverwalk any time soon. That's the word from the San Antonio Film Commission.

It's too bad since the show sounded promising: "Desperado is about a band of lawmen who enact cowboy-style justice on modern-day criminals in San Antonio."

And, no, San Antonio native son Robert Rodriguez had nothing to do with it, despite the title. Instead it was from CSI creator Anthony Zuiker.