With Boardwalk Empire premiering last week, morally conflicted gangsters are as prominent on television as they've been since The Sopranos. And with Community's "chicken fingers" episodes a few months back, a whole new generation of hip TV watchers have been introduced to Goodfellas, the movie that inspired it. I think you know where this is headed… Goodfellas: The Series! According to Deadline writer Nicholas Pileggi is working on a pilot script based on Scorsese's classic 1990 mob movie, with Irwin Winkler likely on board to produce it.
It's unclear how involved Scorsese will be, especially given that he directed the pilot episode of Boardwalk Empire and is on board the series as an executive producer, but the show may stay in the original family in at least one way-- Warner Bros. Television has first dibs on the series since the studio produced the film. Given how complex and multi-generational all mob stories are there's obviously plenty of material left to mine, but you've still got to wonder just how much room there is on television for more traditional mob stories. Without a twist like Boardwalk Empire's 1920s Atlantic City setting, will a Goodfellas series feel original enough to bring in eyeballs? Given the incredibly longevity of mob stories in movies and TV, I wouldn't count it out just yet.
