Miss seeing Jason Lee on the small screen? Well you’re in luck because TNT announced today that the former My Name is Earl star is set to take on the lead role in the network’s upcoming pilot, Delta Blues.
In terms of TNT’s original programming, the network is known for airing grittier dramas, including The Closer, Dark Blue, Leverage, Saving Grace and more recently, HawthoRNe. Delta Blues is described by the network as an “offbeat drama.” Lee’s character is Dwight Hendricks, a Memphis police officer who lives with his mother and moonlights as an Elvis impersonator. That does indeed sound offbeat but if anyone can handle a role like that, it’s Lee. We’ve seen him do comedy plenty of times, not only for Earl but also on the big screen with films like Mallrats and numerous other Kevin Smith films. But he’s also proven himself to be fully capable of handling more dramatic roles. His part in Vanilla Sky comes to mind there. So picturing him as a cop/Elvis impersonator in a TNT series that will probably have a bit of an edge to it isn’t difficult at all.
Below is some more information on the Delta Blues pilot:
“The pilot for DELTA BLUES, which comes to TNT from George Clooney and Grant Heslov’s Smokehouse Pictures and Warner Horizon Television, will be directed by Emmy® nominee Clark Johnson (The Shield) from a script by Liz M. Garcia (Cold Case) and actor Joshua Harto (The Dark Knight). Clooney, Heslov and Garcia serve as executive producers. Henry Bronchtein (The Sopranos) and Smokehouse’s Abby Wolf-Weiss are co-executive producers, and Harto is a producer. Johnson will also receive an executive-producer credit for the pilot.”
