Soon-to-be MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell and former New York columnist Kurt Andersen are awaiting word from HBO on the fate of a comedy pilot they’ve quietly been collaborating on at the cable network. O’Donnell, in Beverly Hills Friday to tout his newly named nightly series The Last Word, revealed that he and Andersen have penned a half-hour chucklefest which O’Donnell describes as being “about rich people in New York in the age of Madoff.” O’Donnell said the show, inspired by real-life people and events, will “kind of be about the employers of the women in Sex and the City. Tonally, it’s in the same zone; we just move up the elevator a bit.” While he currently pays the rent spouting wise on current events, O’Donnell is no stranger to scripted TV: He was an Emmy-winning writer/ producer on The West Wing. And he’s done a little acting, appearing as a lawyer on HBO’s Big Love. His new MSNBC series bows September 27 at 10 p.m., and if HBO actually decides to make the show — “It’s actually verdict time,” he says — O’Donnell doesn’t think he’ll have a problem balancing roles on air and behind the scenes. If it all works out, perhaps Showtime will decide to cast Keith Olbermann in a remake of Network.
