NBC drops
Oahu-based TV showThe Chuck Norris series is not
dead, the show's producer says
NBC will not air the proposed Oahu-based Chuck Norris series "The Guard," which was to begin filming 22 episodes in July.
The show's producer Aaron Norris, Chuck's brother, was notified of the network's decision earlier this week by his agent but given no specific reason for the network's decision. NBC's dropping out does not mean "in any way" that the series won't be made, Aaron Norris said.
"We're trying to resurrect it," said Norris, who has met with two other studios previously interested in the show.
Chuck Norris, who starred for nine years in "Walker, Texas Ranger," would portray a U.S. Coast Guard commander based in Hawaii. The series, in development for more than a year, was being co-produced by Norris Brothers Entertainment and Lions Gate Entertainment.
Neither NBC executives nor Kevin Beggs, Lions Gate's president of television production, were available for comment despite repeated telephone calls.
Lions Gate is still "on board" in getting the show made, Norris said.
"Kevin (Beggs) is out there with me pursuing this," Norris said.
The production would spend more than $20 million annually in Hawaii and employ more than 60 members of a local crew.
The network's decision is a disappointment to the Hawaii Film Office and local industry officials who have been working and meeting with the Norrises since April 2002.
"We strongly believed that this series was ideally suited for Hawaii," said Donne Dawson, Hawaii Film Office manager, "and I'm convinced this series will resurface."
The Norris brothers are "committed" to bringing other projects to Hawaii, Dawson said.
Aaron Norris said state officials and the Hawaii Film Office are "the best."
"They've worked so hard with us to make this work, and then we all get blindsided," he said. "It hurts but we're not dead."
Hawaii has another chance to land a TV series for the fall season with Fox Television's "The Break," produced by Imagine Entertainment. The hour-long police pilot -- created, written and directed by John Stockwell, who also filmed "Blue Crush" on Oahu last year -- was completed last month.
Fox TV announces its fall schedule May 17.