Posted in: Fox, TV | Tagged: Aaron Kaplan, back to the future, bleeding cool, cable, fox, huey lewis, streaming, television, The Blacklist, tv

Huey Lewis-Inspired Rom-Com Anthology in Series Development at FOX

If you think it's a slow "News" day, then you are in for a surprise with FOX's decision to create an hour-long anthology series based on the music of Huey Lewis courtesy of Hart of Dixie creator Leila Gerstein and Aaron Kaplan's Kapital Entertainment. The project is a collaboration between FOX Entertainment and Kapital Entertainment and been ordered for a script-to-series commitment, according to Deadline Hollywood.

Is this it, you ask? The Gerstein Untitled Huey Lewis Project will be a self-contained romantic comedy inspired by the 1980s pop star to show you "The Power of Love". Lewis sets the beat as the inspiration of season one, which interweaves a present-day love story with a teen rom-com set in 1986. She will co-executive produce with Lewis, Kaplan, and Kapital Entertainment's Dana Honor. According to Deadline, Kaplan pitched the idea to Lewis set up by the musician's agency Paradigm, and the singer-songwriter agreed to partner with him on the project in the room before approaching Gerstein. Kaplan previously worked with her on FOX's The Underlings during the 2016-18 season. Gerstein also worked on shows like Mrs. America, The Handmaid's Tale, and Looking For Alaska.

Huey Lewis & The News, originally formed in 1979, won a Grammy for their video of "The Heart of Rock & Roll" in 1986 and scored an Academy Award nomination for "The Power of Love" for their work in the Back to the Future (1985) soundtrack. In addition to the songs that contributed to the film, Lewis appeared in the film as a teacher auditioning bands for Hill Valley High declaring Marty McFly's (Michael J Fox) band as "too loud" with his bullhorn. The band's pop culture relevance can't be understated given the 1991 novel "American Psycho" and subsequent film with its use of one of their hits' "Hip to Be Square" causing fans to rediscover the 1986 song. In the memorable scene, Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) plays the song while giving a lecture about the band to Paul Allen before taking an ax to him.

Lewis released "Weather" in 2020, which is the first new material in nearly two decades. The musician still acts on occasion most recently lending his voice to Disney's Puppy Dog Pals as Bullworth and he appeared as himself on an episode of NBC's The Blacklist.

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