Eddie Murphy’s Axel Foley is one of the most beloved and recognizable characters in all of cinema. He’s charming, funny, noble and almost made the leap to the small screen a decade ago. Some may not remember this (or even know it at all). CBS was developing a pilot project for a beverly hills police TELEVISION show in 2013. This series was to be a procedural, and The Shield’s Shawn Ryan was attached as writer and executive producer. Unfortunately, the show was skipped by the network and Ryan has now explained why things turned out the way they did.
They beverly hills police The TV series, which aimed to capture the spirit of its predecessors on the big screen, would have centered on Axel’s policeman son, Aaron Foley, who would try to step out of his famous father’s shadow by moving from Detroit to California. . . Fun Brandon T. Jackson was cast in the lead role and was joined by Kevin Pollack and David Denman as Rodney and Brad, respectively. Law alum Christine Lahti was also cast in an unknown role. And in addition to appearing in the pilot, Eddie Murphy would remain in the production as an occasional guest.
There was certainly a fun premise and capable cast and crew thrown into the mix here, so why didn’t it all work? Well, as a fan of the franchise, I couldn’t help but ask Shawn Ryan this question when I told him about his latest show: the agent of the night (which can be transmitted with a Netflix subscription ). Ryan, who says he enjoyed working on the project, attributes its failure to a number of reasons that together create a “chaotic” situation:
Well, briefly, I’ll just say that I loved this process. Barry Sonnenfeld, the wonderful director of Men in Black and Get Shorty and more, directed this pilot for us. I worked with Eddie Murphy and wrote lines for him as Axel Foley. And finally, it’s a complicated situation, because I don’t know if I know the whole truth. I know the pilot was one of the best test drivers Nielsen had ever tested. But there were politicians involved between CBS and Paramount at the time. [, which] had the rights and Sony, who produced it. And there were agendas that I think caused the show to not be accepted for reasons that had nothing to do with quality or interest. And sometimes these things happen in business, and there was a point where I was angry about it, and all you can do is go ahead and try to do the next show.
These “policies” had to be serious enough if they were to put an end to a pilot that had tested Nielsen so much. However, in light of what happened, I appreciate the super producer’s point of view on the situation, because being able to do any kind of work on a legendary IP is quite a feat for a creative. During our conversation, he came out to talk about watching the episode and working with his collaborators:
I have seen this pilot. Eddie Murphy was amazing. Our cast was really great. I wish I could have done this show for CBS. It didn’t happen, and we’ve all had disappointments in our professional lives, and you just have to get off the mat and do the next one.
Shawn Ryan isn’t the only person talking about the show since then CBS unplugged . In 2013, Brandon T. Jackson, comparing him to cool prince – felt the show was “too edgy” for the Eye Network . Eddie Murphy has referenced the project several times, with his most recent comments coming from a 2019 interview with indiewire . The veteran actor has suggested that his presence in the pilot contributed to his downfall. He stated that after his appearance in the well-rehearsed episode, studio execs wanted Axel to appear more often. And as Murphy recalled, he told them, “I’m not going to get in shit.”
It’s a shame that the Shawn Ryan-penned production hasn’t started. If there’s any consolation, fans will get to see him reprise his famous role in Beverly Hills Police: Axel Foley who has the cast filled with franchise veterans and newcomers alike. The prospect of finally seeing the long-awaited fourth film is exciting, although I’d be lying if I said I’m not at all curious about what this TV show could have been.
But instead of wallowing in “what ifs,” you can focus your attention on the constant updates of the latest news beverly hills police movie. You can also stream the first three installments for free on Pluto TV .
Source: Cinemablend
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