Gibson ramps up his involvement with television

LA Times ( Indy Star) ^ | 3-1-04 | Scott Collins

[truthandlife]

Last fall, as the controversy over his film "The Passion of the Christ" was heating up, Mel Gibson found time to visit the Burbank, Calif., headquarters of ABC.

The actor-director came to discuss "Savages," a proposed sitcom -- about a divorced firefighter raising five sons -- that Gibson and his partners were pitching. Like any good salesman, Gibson personalized his pitch, telling ABC executives that the script was partly based on his own household, where he and wife Robyn are raising seven kids.

"A lot of the main character is a Mel Gibson type, kind of a guy's guy," says Stephanie Leifer, ABC's senior vice president of comedy programming. Gibson and the writers "talked about the chaos of having big families." Network executives were evidently impressed: They ordered the pilot, which is one of several Gibson has under consideration for next season.

TV payoff is bigger

Virtually everyone knows that "The Passion," Gibson's unflinching version of Jesus' final hours, opened Ash Wednesday, roiling the film world. Less visible, though, are the star's tireless efforts to expand his resume as a producer, especially in the potentially lucrative world of television, where the payout from a hit series could dwarf whatever final proceeds the star collects from "The Passion," which grossed $26.6 million its first day in theaters.

Still, Gibson's recent involvement in television does not mean he's walking away from the feature film business. Among his film projects is "Mr. Lucky," a comedy in which he would star that is being developed by Joe Roth's Revolution Studios for Sony Pictures.

[Little Ray]

My Five Sons?

Teach 'em to ride, to shoot and to tell the truth!