Several new high-concept series have been put into development this week.
NBC has begun early work on Universal TV’s “The Stratford,” a one-hour drama from Vincent Angell (“The Rookie,” “The Blacklist,” “The Following”) and Sean Hayes’ production company Hazy Mills (“Grimm,” “Hollywood Game Night”).
The series unfolds in a New York luxury hotel and centers on a young man’s search for his father’s killer in a modern reimagination of a Shakespearean world. The characters in the series are revealed to be updated versions of classic Shakesperean characters.
Next, sports content studio Game1 and Gifford Media Group are teaming for the anthology series “Glory Game” based on late New York Giants Hall of Famer and Monday Night Football broadcaster Frank Gifford’s bestselling 2008 memoir.
That series dramatizes the history of the modern NFL with the first season dealing with Gifford’s time with the Giants and his time in New York City. Ensuing seasons will feature teams from other pivotal eras, each highlighting the most dramatic people and stories in pro football history.
Finally, Universal Studio Group’s UCP is teaming with “Happy!” showrunner Patrick Macmanus for a currently untitled limited series about John Allen Chau – a 26-year old Chinese American man killed by an isolated tribe on an island in the Indian ocean which he was trying to convert to Christianity. UCP has optioned the rights to J. Oliver Conroy’s 2019 Guardian Observer article about the event.
