Netflix makes television adaptation correction
Back in 2012, HBO famously filmed and scrapped a pilot adaptation of the Jonathan Franzen novel The Corrections. It was set to star an all-star cast, including Ewan McGregor, Dianne Wiest, and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story, The Squid & The Whale, Barbie) was leading the project.
With that cast, Baumbach, and it based on a beloved book, the pilot is one of those great missed opportunities that is still regularly discussed.
But Netflix is taking a swing at it.
Meryl Streep will star in Netflix’s adaptation of The Corrections from Paramount Television Studios.
Cord Jefferson (Succession, Watchmen, Station Eleven, IT: Welcome to Derry) will direct, making this his directorial follow-up to his excellent debut film American Fiction.
Jonathan Franzen is on board to write.
In an interview with WNYC back in 2015, he spoke about what went wrong with the pilot:
I left it with a real appreciation for what is distinctly television and what is distinctly movies. Sometimes that gets conflated because we’re all talking about how we’re in a golden age of TV and TV is where more interesting stuff is going on. But I think what gets lost in that sometimes is that it’s really a different medium. For me, the challenge of looking at something over a long period of time, that was ongoing and had no end, where you’re just re-generating story for every episode…
The idea of that was, what, depressing? Terrifying?
I don’t know that I appreciated how different it was from movies.
It’s not like making a little movie every week?
It wasn’t for me. I think I shot it too much like a movie. The real reason I think we didn’t go forward with it was it was too complex, and it was really too expensive for the kind of show it was going to be.
And that’s saying a lot for an HBO show.
Well, we didn’t have dragons. It was the kind of show that most people would do for two cents and we were spending what Game of Thrones spends.
That leaves me wondering whether the Noah Baumbach of 2026 would have the same difficulty with the adaptation. The last 15 years have been transformational in pushing the boundaries of what is possible from a television program. A filmmaker of 2012, which is when that HBO pilot was filmed, is undoubtedly going to approach the medium in very different ways.
Read more about the Netflix series: thefutoncritic
As Deadline notes in its story on the announcement, the series will be overseen by Netflix exec Nora Skinner. Skinner was hired in 2024 to beef up Netflix’s prestige drama portfolio. Skinner joined Netflix from HBO where as an exec she oversaw shows including Succession, The White Lotus, Mare Of Easttown, and Watchmen.
News Desk
BBC has co-commissioned two new dramas with BBC Cymru Wales, the podcast adaptation The Witch Farm and crime series Old Town Murders. Read: C21
David E. Kelley will write an adaptation of Bonfire of the Vanities for Apple TV. The Batman director Matt Reeves will helm the pilot. Read: Variety
Supriyah Ganesh who plays Dr Mohan on The Pitt is leaving the show ahead of season three. Ayesha Harris, who plays the night shift’s Dr Ellis will be promoted to a series regular. Read: Deadline
Netflix has just picked up the Louis CK special Ridiculous and will headline him at a show in the Netflix Is a Joke festival. Does that make him un-cancelled now? Can we once again watch the show Louie, because that was pretty good… Read: THR
OpenAI has purchased streaming video tech show TBPN. Read: The Verge
A second season has been announced for upcoming Disney+ animated show Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord. Read: Dark Horizons
If you’re after a very British list of the 50 greatest kids shows of all time… Read: Radio Times
Trailer Park
Anthology show Beef returns for a second season at Netflix April 18.
A young couple witnesses an alarming fight between their boss and his wife, triggering chess moves of favors and coercion in the elitist world of a country club and its Korean billionaire owner. Starring Carey Mulligan, Oscar Isaac, Cailee Spaeny, Charles Melton and guest starring Youn Yuh-jung and Song Kang-ho.
Widow’s Bay debuts on Apple TV April 29.
In "Widow's Bay," something lurks beneath the surface. Mayor Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys) is desperate to revive his struggling community. There's no Wi-Fi, spotty cellular reception and he must contend with superstitious locals who believe their island is cursed. He wants these people to respect him. They don't. They think he is soft and cowardly. And he is. But Loftis is determined to build a better future for his teenage son and turn the island into a tourist destination. Miraculously, he succeeds: tourists are finally coming. Unfortunately, the locals were right. After decades of calm, the old stories that seemed too ludicrous to be true start happening again.
Swapped debuts on Netflix May 1.
A tiny woodland creature and a majestic bird suddenly swap bodies, forcing them to team up to survive the wildest adventure of their lives.
Smiling Friends returns April 12 on Adult Swim with its final batch of episodes.
Sofia The First: Royal Magic debuts May 25 on Disney+. Moana, Rapunzel, Jasmine, Cinderella, Aurora and Elena of Avalor will make special appearances in the show.
That’s the newsletter for the today.
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