Lifetime says no to 'Meet Jane'

Deadline.com is finally confirming what we have long suspected: Lifetime will not pick up the series Meet Jane, for which a pilot was filmed in Austin with Molly Parker and Rick Schroder starring. This despite reshoots for the pilot done in the spring.

So count this as the last cute Ricky photo on this blog...

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.

Austin-shot 'Meet Jane' remains not-so aloof

Little Ricky sez "pick up my show!"


UPDATE: New shoots of the pilot apparently have been taking place of late in Austin! An extras notice dated April 1 (no fooling) sought upscale business and model types ages 40-70 for a shoot this past Sunday. Also sought was a photo double for Schroder, so he's still on board and apparently 5'10" tall and weighing int at 160 lbs.


OK, I'm finally checking back on the status of Meet Jane, and the potential Lifetime series remains moored in the land of perhaps. According to Deadline.com "Meet Jane remains in contention and may be retooled." The pilot shot in Austin and starred Molly Parker and Rick Schroder.

Apparently that retooling is a go...

Rick Schroder in Austin-shot 'Meet Jane'

UPDATE: On Location Casting says word on a series pickup could come as early as mid-February. The pilot is officially wrapped as of today.

OK, this one totally slipped past me in the holiday rush: Rick(y) Schroder is in the cast of Meet Jane, the Lifetimes series pilot that recently shot (it was still in production yesterday, actually) in Austin with Molly Parker as the lead.

The show is about "Jane Bilinski (Parker) whose stale life as an unhappily married mother of two daughters in the Washington, DC area is suddenly re-energized and empowered when the FBI enlists her to spy on her husband (Schroder), a computer technician the government suspects is selling top-secret information to Russia."

Here's what I wrote about the show in early December.

'Meet Jane' says howdy to Austin shoot

The good news to come out of the quick cancellation of Austin-shot My Generation? One of the producers took notice of the Capital City--and specifically the Capitol--as a great location. The result is the Lifetime series pilot for Meet Jane, a Washington D.C. set story (thus the allure of the Capitol) starring Molly Parker of Deadwood.

Here's the description of the show via Deadline.com: "centers on Jane Bilinski (Parker) whose stale life as an unhappily married mother of two daughters in the Washington, DC area is suddenly re-energized and empowered when the FBI enlists her to spy on her husband, a computer technician the government suspects is selling top-secret information to Russia."

The show is from Andi Bushell who was a co-executive producer on My Generation. Bushell wrote the Jane script and will executive produce the pilot.

The series looks to have some clout behind it. The other executive producer is Mark Pedowitz, former prez of ABC Studios.

For my potential extras out there, On Location Casting is handling those chores and is sending you to their Facebook page.