According to the Hollywood Reporter, True Blood mastermind Alan Ball is currently developing a series called Wichita about “a Kansas surgeon who inadvertently becomes the focal point of a contemporary political, cultural and ethical war.”
Ball is also teaming up with Devin Friedman, the writer behind the 2010 GQ article “Savior vs. Savior” about the late doctor Dr. George Tiller, one of the few physicians to provide late-term abortions.
Tiller, who was the medical director of the Women’s Health Care Services facility, survived an assassination attempt in 1993 and was shot in the eye and killed by anti-abortion activist Scott Roeder in 2009. Roeder was convicted of murder last year.
Ball would executive produce the hourlong project alongside Jimmy Miller with Friedman penning the project and serving as co-executive producer.
I haven’t seen True Blood yet —I know, I know— but based on Alan Ball’s incredible work on Six Feet Under, this could seriously be an incredible show.
Think about it. Take Alan Ball’s focused development of richly drawn female characters —Brenda Chenowith alone!— then add in a seriously hot button contemporary issue of a woman’s control over her reproductive rights and the people who are pushing to make sure that women maintain these rights and you have a show that would not only be remarkable but could very well have an impact on those seeking to destroy a woman’s right to choose.
I know it may not happen, of course. But what if it did?
It wouldn’t be the first time that TV had the rare opportunity to change someone’s mind simply by taking an issue and making it painfully, inescapably human. And if there’s any issue that requires that right now, as soon as possible, it’s this one.
‘True Blood’ EP Alan Ball Developing HBO Medical Drama (Exclusive) [HollywoodReporter]