It has been a very interesting time for the FX Network, hasn’t it? Veteran dramas Justified and Sons Of Anarchy have continued to thrive over the years, with the latter show approaching its seventh season. Meanwhile, other series such as The Americans, Louie and Archer are genuine critical success stories, with The Americans receiving high praise for its latest season. The cable network does not look to be slowing down anytime soon, either, as the well-received Fargo wraps up its debut season and upcoming shows like The Strain and Tyrant are getting some pretty solid buzz as well. Unfortunately, there is one promising TV drama pilot that FX has decided to move on from.
That drama pilot is Hoke, which starred Paul Giamatti as Hoke Moseley, a hardboiled and “possibly insane” homicide detective living in the world of pre-chic Miami during the early-1980s. The show was to be based on a series of novels by Charles Willeford and the pilot was written and directed by Scott Frank (The Wolverine). Co-starring are John Carroll Lynch (Zodiac), Tammy Blanchard (Moneyball) and Oona Chaplin (Game Of Thrones).
On paper, this show seems like a no-brainer. After all, if there is one actor who deserves to have his own TV show, it’s Paul Giamatti. The man has earned a lot of goodwill over the last twenty years, turning in great performances in movies like American Splendor, Sideways and Cinderella Man. His last foray into TV was the superb 2008 HBO mini-series John Adams, which saw the actor pick up a Golden Globe and an Emmy for playing the title character. Considering how grossly underused he’s been in recent movies such as The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and 12 Years A Slave, it’s a real shame that Hoke did not manage to pan out.
Hopefully, this doesn’t mean the show will never see the light of day. Unless the pilot was absolutely terrible, surely there’s another cable network out there that would love to get Hoke a chance. Anyone? AMC, I’m looking in your direction.