Cue your Casio synthesizer for a little “Axel F.” CBS has ordered a pilot for a TV sequel to “Beverly Hills Cop,” produced by Shawn Ryan and featuring Eddie Murphy in a guest-starring role as ’80s movie icon Axel Foley.
The project, first reported by Vulture’s Joe Adalian (here’s his report of the CBS deal), would focus on Axel’s son Aaron, but Murphy would appear in the pilot and possibly guest in future episodes.
If the pilot is ordered to series, it would be the third show for Ryan – who’s best known for creating “The Shield,” and has one of this fall’s splashier new dramas with ABC’s “Last Resort” – at CBS. His first major TV job was as a staff writer on “Nash Bridges,” and he also was showrunner for four seasons of “The Unit.”
UPDATE: I asked Ryan for some thoughts on getting the keys to Axel Foley’s kingdom, and this is what he wrote:
I always loved the movies, the character of Axel and the juxtaposition of blue collar midwest vs. Beverly Hills wealthy. Having the opportunity to explore this in television and especially to write for Eddie Murphy is an opportunity I couldn’t turn down. Eddie is very excited about this and pumped to play Axel again. Perhaps the most exciting aspect for me is to do something more comedic than I’ve done before. We’ll be doing a mixture of scripted and improvisational comedy that I don’t think (to my knowledge) has been done in the 1-hour drama universe before. Also, in an era where most new shows are being shipped out of Los Angeles, we’ll get to film this here, which will bring me closer to production after a run of shows (“Terriers,” “Chicago Code,” “Last Resort”) that have all filmed out of town. Finally, this is the kind of thing a lot of people will say can’t be done (or at least done well) and I love the challenge of trying to prove them wrong. Going to be fun. Especially at CBS where I have a history with Nina and co., whom I all love.
No word yet on whether any or all of Bronson Pinchot, Damon Wayans, John Ashton or Judge Reinhold will also be appearing in the series, but we have to assume they are available. Also no word on whether Aaron Foley will also be good at sweet-talking hotel managers: