In a Deadline exclusive, ABC is apparently interested in yet another contemporary take on a classic, public domain concept. In addition to their upcoming fairytale drama, Once Upon a Time, and a female-centric take on The Count of Monte Cristo (called Revenge), will come a Sheldon Turner project based on Robert Louis Stevenson's famous Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The project is the first to be sold by Turner and Jennifer Klein's new company, Vendetta.
Turner will write the show, simply called Hyde for the time being. Hyde will follow Grant Hyde, an ER doctor in his thirties. Grant has a degenerative eye condition and is "conflict averse," a problem we can expect his alter ego to see to -- which apparently begins after he attempts an experimental treatment to improve his eyesight. The major break from the classic story comes in the manifestation of that more willful alter ego, which will apparently appear in Grant's dreams. Rather than grappling with an uncontrollable second personality, I expect Dr. Hyde will gradually lose more and more control of his behavior to this dream ego, which will probably appear to be a blessing for his weak personality at first.
There aren't many details yet, but this strikes me as a much more feasible setting than a straight-up split personality, which was actually loosely attempted by an NBC drama called My Own Worst Enemy in 2008. Worst Enemy only lasted nine episodes. Anyway, ABC is clearly in love with the idea of modernizing old stories right now, and Hyde's chances of making it to the small screen likely ride at least in part on the reception of Once Upon a Time and Revenge, so be sure to keep tabs!
