Sustain LAist today!

Your monthly gift during our June member drive powers our local newsroom.
1,485 sustainers of 2,500 goal
Logged in as
Audience-funded nonprofit news
radio tower icon laist logo
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Subscribe
  • Listen Now Playing Listen
  • Listen Now Playing Listen

This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.

This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.

Arts & Entertainment

Showtime Orders a Soap Script from Bret Easton Ellis

This story is free to read because readers choose to support LAist. If you find value in independent local reporting, make a donation to power our newsroom today.

In a step in the right direction to keep from getting too far behind its competition, Showtime has decided to work with controversial novelist Bret Easton Ellis on a soap opera, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Dubbed "The Canyon", Ellis will be working with the cable network to produce something that (sadly) sounds more like "Friday the 13th" than "Twin Peaks".


The six main characters -- including an art gallery owner, lawyer, event planner and a closeted bartender -- deal with career and relationship issues. They encounter violent situations and anxieties that are briefly manifested as monsters and other apparitions that may or may not be real. Despite the surreal touches, Ellis says he doesn't want the series to venture into
David Lynch territory. "There are no midgets walking backwards," he said, laughing. "We want something much more naturalistic -- a very realistic soap."

Ellis said he developed the idea during one of his "dark periods" living in a Los Angeles hotel while looking for a home. "I had a feeling that the world was coming to an end, which I still think it is, and was making fear-based decisions, which were getting me into worse situations. I wanted to write a soap based on fear and anxiety in L.A." - Hollywood Reporter

Strange that Ellis would be against walking (and talking) backwards midgets. Didn't everyone walk backwards a few times, very nicely, in the Rules of Attraction?Hopefully Mr.Ellis will take advantage of the freedom of subscription cable and lets himself go, the same way he lets himself goes in his over-the-top stories.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our connected community. We are free to tell the full truth, to hold power to account without fear or favor, and to follow facts wherever they lead. Our only loyalty is to our audiences and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen our community.

Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive from readers like you will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.

If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.

Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief

Make your tax-deductible donation today