the industry

Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen to Wait Patiently

Catherine Opie’s Untitled #10 (Surfers) (2003).

Waiting For This: Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart will star together in a West End production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. The show debuts April 30, the same day as an American staging of Godot starring Nathan Lane and Bill Irwin. The pairing marks the first time that Stewart and McKellen have worked together since appearing as rivals in 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, which makes us excited but slightly worried that Brett Ratner might be called in to direct the sequel. [Variety]

More Kath! (Also, More Kim): NBC has ordered nine additional episodes of Kath & Kim. The sitcom, starring Molly Shannon and Selma Blair, has averaged six million viewers for its first four episodes, which isn’t great, but if NBC canceled it they’d have nothing to replace it with. Ergo, it’s a huge success. Ben Silverman, you are a genius. [Variety]

Reality Check: Mike Fleiss, the brains behind The Bachelor, has been tapped by CBS to bring seven episodes of a new reality show to the Eye. The show is about a neighborhood of families competing against each other for a super-special prize. It was the first project ordered by CBS reality chief Jennifer Bresnan, who can count on it being quickly cancelled and replaced with repeats of The Mentalist. [Variety]

Uncharted Desert Isle: Staten Island might finally get the respect it’s long deserved when Staten Island, a cop drama being developed by FX and West Wing writer–executive producer Lawrence O’Donnell, hits the air. The show centers on a “compromised police chief” in the borough, and is expected to become the successor to The Shield when it signs off on November 25. We’re hoping that the entire police department is staffed by members of the Wu-Tang Clan, though surely that won’t actually happen. [HR]

Meet the TV: Meet the Parents co-writer Jim Herzfeld is bringing his talent for writing uncomfortable family comedies to TV, with NBC’s Fockers-ish Changing Positions. The multi-camera project centers on a finance type who loses everything and is forced, along with his wife and kids, to move in with his horny, sex video–making in-laws. Hijinks, laughter, and a half-season’s worth of episodes will presumably ensue. Ben Silverman, you are a genius. [HR]

Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen to Wait Patiently