Since his pride and joy Entourage aired its series finale, Doug Ellin has been working to get a few new series picked up, with Da Brick being the most relevant to what we do around these here pages. The series, produced by Spike Lee, would be based on Mike Tyson’s younger years with an emphasis on a young black man trying to find his place in white America.
Alas, that story will have to be told by another network, because HBO has passed. I assume they’re instead moving forward with the Tommy Gunn-inspired series, Hey, Pee in This Cup for Me.
Da Brick was to have starred Attack the Block’s John Boyega as Donnie, who after his release from juvenlie detention on his 18th birthday begins an exploration of what it means to be a man for himself and those around him.
Former boxing heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, Entourage creator Ellin and his producing partnerJim Lefkowitz were attached as nonwriting executive producers, along with Tyson’s wife,Lakiha Tyson. Azim Spicer was attached as a nonwriting co-executive producer. Lee would have directed the pilot with L.A. Riots’ John Ridley on board to write and serve as showrunner. (The Hollywood Reporter)
I’m sure this show had the potential to be intelligent, well-written and mostly thought-provoking, but that ain’t the Mike Tyson that I, or mostly anyone else, want to see. In fact, if you’re going to have a show involving Tyson, I want it to be a debate-style talk show with a hot girl in a cage yelling random topics for Tyson to argue about with his panel of guests, including Jose Canseco, Randy Quaid and Janice Dickinson. That’s instant Emmy material right there.
