Posted in: ABC, CBS, CW, Fox, HBO, Hulu, NBC, Netflix, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: bleeding cool, books, cable, family guy, herman wouk, nbcuniversal, novels, seth macfarlane, streaming, television, The Orville, The Winds of War, tv, war and remembrance

The Orville Creator Seth MacFarlane Is Going to "War" with NBCU

It's one thing for Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, The Orville) to make news by leaving his long-standing production home at 20th Television (still has that "new name smell") for creative pastures of NBCUniversal, but once the dust settles you have to produce. Well, "produce" is what MacFarlane did and in a big way, announcing an adaptation of author Herman Wouk's The Winds of War and War and Remembrance as a limited series. Universal Content Productions will serve as the studio, with The Winds of War being shopped to broadcast, cable, and streaming services. MacFarlane and Seth Fisher (The Alienist, Saints and Strangers) will share script duties and executive produce, with MacFarlane's Fuzzy Door (Family Guy, American Dad, The Orville, Cosmos) president Erica Higgins will also executive produce the series, which tells the epic story of one American family's turbulent voyage across the continents and across the years that spanned World War II.

"I can't think of a more exciting project with which to launch my creative partnership with UCP than Herman Wouk's The Winds of War," MacFarlane said. "I've been a devoted fan of Wouk's WWII epic for decades, and its depiction of small-scale human endurance in the face of large-scale global upheaval has never been more relevant than it is today. In my very first meeting with [UCP president] Dawn Olmstead, we connected over this project — I learned that she herself comes from a Naval family — and to bring it to fruition under her stewardship and that of her UCP team will be a perfect fit for all. We can't wait to get started." First published in 1971 (with War and Remembrance following in 1978), The Winds of War was one of a number of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Wouk's novels that focused on World War II. The novels were first adapted for television as an 18-hour miniseries from Dan Curtis that starred Robert Mitchum, Ali MacGraw, and only one of the eight Jan-Michael Vincents (someone will get this reference).

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!