For seven years, Shawn Ryan created some of the most daring and groundbreaking stories on television as head writer of “The Shield.” Since then, his projects have encountered nothing but bad luck: “The Unit” lasted four seasons but got derailed by the writer’s strike, “Terriers” was adored by critics but got hamstrung by a bad name and poor advertising, and “The Chicago Code” was canceled by Fox earlier this week. But the prolific writer already has other projects in the works:
Ryan has a promising new project in development at FX called Nickel, with Chicago Code writer Davey Holmes as showrunner and Fox 21 producing. Here’s the pitch: “Ex-con uses a self-help book to inspire him to become a better criminal.” The tone is said to be darkly comedic in the vein of Quentin Tarantino films and Steven Soderbergh’s Out of Sight.
Then, starting next month, Ryan’s new overall deal kicks in at Sony, where the prolific writer will start hammering out more projects. He’s potentially looking to expand beyond doing intense crime dramas for which he’s best known. “The next thing I do will probably not be a cop show,” he says. [EW]
Ryan also talked about the possibility of a “Shield” movie (possible but not likely) and the closure that the finale of “Chicago Code” will provide (“I knew there was a decent chance we wouldn’t last”). But there’s no hint of anything ever happening with “Terriers”: no second season on another channel, no movie, no cast reunion. I bet it won’t even come out on DVD. (I’m just saying all this to make Danger Guerrero cry.)