TCA: Showtime greenlights Spielberg pilot
POSTED BY STEVEN ZEITCHIK
Showtime is a step closer to airing a series from Steven Spielberg. Pay net said at TCA Saturday that it has greenlit the pilot for "The United States of Tara," a halfhour comedy about a woman with multiple-personality disorder which is based on a Spielberg idea and is produced by his Dreamworks Television. Justin Cody will write and Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank will exec produce the show, about an afflicted suburban mother whose personality veers from a Martha Stewart domestic to a male biker to a sex-happy teenage girl. Showtime execs described it as "Weeds" meets "Cybil." Production on the pilot will begin in the fall. Project, which had first been reported by Daily Variety (March 15), is still in need of an actor to play the part of the main character. But Showtime entertainment prexy Robert Greenblatt said in an interview that the net was getting closer to landing the lead, with several theatrical-level stars under consideration. Greenblatt declined to offer odds on a full series pickup but did hint at its favorable prospects. "It's a lot more likely now that we have the pilot," he said. --Steven Zeitchik
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Hello,
We are disgusted and insulted in learning of the latest Steven Spielberg project, The United States of Tara.
We suffer with Dissociative Identity Disorder and in our case, it was caused by repeated, horrific childhood sexual abuse from the family of origin, that went on for years and years. We are deeply offended by the possibility of someone doing a "comedy" about the tragedy of this life, and we doubt seriously if anyone would consider producing a "comedy" about any other profound mental disorder such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, clinical depression, etc. This is in extremely poor taste, and we plan on starting a writing campaign in opposition. We (multiples) are strong in number all over the world, and have a very politically powerful network.
I hope that they will reconsider this decision. At the very least, we wish that they will choose to educate themselves:
http://www.sidran.org/sub.cfm?contentID=75§ionid=4
Posted by: susa | October 16, 2007 at 11:36 AM