We haven’t heard anything for awhile about the television adaptation of Brian Michael Bendis’ Powers for FX, so it’s rather disappointing to get some bad news.
The super hero crime drama has lost its star, Lucy Punch, to another show, as she signed on to co-star in the confusingly titled Ned Fox is my Manny, a low-budget situation comedy set to air on Fox this fall.
This conflicts with the production schedule for Powers, and the actress has clearly chosen the sitcom over the super powered comic book adaptaion. Why she would rather co-star in what is sure to be yet another forgettable sitcom, rather than what will likely be a fan-loved, classic work, even if it doesn’t last long, remains a mystery. I can only imagine that Fox is willing to pay better than FX.
Brian Michael Bendis, posting on the Facebook page for the show, which he consults on, wished to reassure fans of the comic line.
“Though Lucy Punch has moved on, Powers TV is not dead. If it was I would tell you honest & true. New scripts have been ordered for more episodes & there will be news in May about how we are going forward.The network is behind us all the way. It’s quite nice. It’s going to be a long haul but it’s all about quality. I desperately want the best show we can make.”
Powers is a comic book series that focuses on a pair of detectives in a special division tasked with investigating superhero oriented crimes.
One detective is a former strongman hero, who has lost his powers, but retains his deep understanding of the superhero community. The other is a young woman who has only just discovered her own secret superpowers.
We recently reported that the comic books which the show is based on will soon be returning after a long hiatus. The author claims the delay was partly due to his spending lots of time working on the development for the show, which had to be rewritten several times for the minor network.
“FX is different from other networks. Other networks make a bunch of pilots and watch them once. They then test them and decide whether they want to put them on the air or not,” Bendis said at the time.
“If FX greenlights a pilot they’re 80 percent sure that they’re putting the show on the air. They reshoot pilots before they abandon them. From what I understand the ‘Sons of Anarchy’ pilot that aired was almost completely reshot from the original. It was done by our director… So they look at it as a first draft of a five-year investment in a series, which I think makes their shows better. I think that’s why their success rate is so high. If a series doesn’t connect with an audience it isn’t from a lack of quality.”
There is no word when the filming will get underway for Powers. Expect a new female lead to be found soon, however.
