SPYDER GAMES MTV entertains all its children with a newfangled Gen-X soap
For its first foray into the world of daytime soaps, MTV tapped the producing team of Christian McLaughlin and Valerie Ahern (Married...With Children) and love-in-the-afternoon vets Shawn Batten and Christina Chambers (both late of Sunset Beach) to create a must-see sudser--complete with a high-profile gay story line, icy decapitations (above), and freaky guest stars like Go-Go's guitarist Jane Wiedlin--for the TRL set. (It will directly follow Carson Daly's daily schmooze-fest.) "We want the show to be like crack for the young kids," says McLaughlin of the series, which centers on the Carlisle family and their Sega-esque videogame company. "We want people to have one little taste and then be hooked." (June)
THE CHRIS ISAAK SHOW The heartthrob crooner indulges in some wicked cable games
With all the male flesh being exposed on its racy Queer as Folk, does Showtime need to pick up some T&A slack? Enter The Chris Isaak Show, a female-nudity-filled behind-the-scenes comedy exploring the professional and sexual lives of the suave singer-songwriter and his real-life bandmates. If all this reminds you of a certain HBO talk-show sitcom, that's no accident. "If we're half as good as The Larry Sanders Show, that would be great," says Isaak (right), who once guested on Garry Shandling's series. "But when we're filming, I think about The Andy Griffith Show [just] as much." A revolving door of celeb guests (Stevie Nicks, Minnie Driver, Isaak's gal pal Bai Ling) should boost ratings, but if not, Isaak's got a plan. "The nice thing about being a musician," he figures, "is that if this doesn't work out, I can just have the tour bus pick us up and hit the road." (March)
DINNER WITH FRIENDS Pulitzer Prize-winning midlife crises brought to you by an all-star cast
"I don't think a movie studio would do it," director Norman Jewison (The Hurricane) says about his HBO version of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Dinner With Friends. "It's too sophisticated--it's not appealing to 14-year-olds." Playwright Donald Margulies adapted his own tragicomedy about a happily married couple (Dennis Quaid, left, and Andie MacDowell, above) who learn that their best friends (Greg Kinnear and Toni Collette) are getting a divorce. "The fact that Dennis and Andie were both in marriages that were breaking up made them much more sensitive and understanding," says Jewison. "Maybe it was kind of therapeutic--they ended up playing the couple that stays together." (August)
NEW FACES/CHARLIE HUNNAM
AGE 20 WHERE YOU'VE SEEN HIM As Nathan on the British version of Queer as Folk--if you actually saw it; as Ryder on The WB's summer flop Young Americans--if you actually saw it. ("It wasn't my finest hour," groans Hunnam.) COMING SOON Fox's college comedy Undeclared, from Freaks and Geeks exec producer Judd Apatow. He plays Lloyd, "a slightly pretentious theater student who gets all the ladies." FUN FACT Hunnam and wife Kate Towne adopted kittens Mavis and George from a litter that was born on their roof. "It was literally raining cats for two days," laughs Hunnam. "They were all falling down." ON LIVING IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA "There's so many beautiful parts around L.A., and L.A. itself is so definitely not beautiful. You need to get away whenever possible." FAVE SHOW Northern Exposure RECOMMENDATION Guy Ritchie's Snatch. "It killed any doubts anybody had about Brad Pitt's acting ability. He's on fire in this film." (Spring)
