While AGENT CARTER isn't renewed yet, her showrunners, Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters, have signed a pod deal with ABC Studios. Fazekas and Butters currently have two shows at ABC. This could be a good sign for CARTER. Surely the Studio wouldn't sign a development deal with showrunners and then kill all their projects.
Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters, better known to CBM readers as the showrunners behind AGENT CARTER, have signed a pod deal with ABC Studios. Variety reports that under the two-year deal, they will bring in a development executive and look to create 30-minute and hour-long shows for the studio. The articles on 'Vriety.com' and 'Deadline.com' did not indicate that deal included any aspect of either of the shows Fazekas and Butters have on ABC network right now, AGENT CARTER and 'Resurrection'
Fazekas expressed her enthusiasm for broadening into comedies as well as hour-long action-dramas like AGENT CARTER. Fazekas also praised the duo's constructive relationship with ABC Studios and ABC network.
Fazekas and Butters prior credits include CW's cult hit Reaper, Hawaii 5-0, Joss Whedon's Dollhouse and five years as writers and producers on Dick Wolf's hit Law and Order: SVU at NBC.
What does this deal mean for AGENT CARTER? Nothing definite. While this deal doesn't make AGENT CARTER a certain renewal in it's present post-World War II format, this writer speculates that fans are more likely to see her continue to grace our screens in some format with the deal in place than before. It stands the test of reason that a studio wouldn't sign a deal with showrunners and then let all their current projects die. It is widely speculated that 'Resurrection' will not be renewed.
Even if ABC network does not renew AGENT CARTER in the current format, she could change formats or continue on another channel within the ABC/Disney empire or on another platform entirely. AGENT CARTER could move eras to one less removed from present-day, which would lower production costs. The show could drop to a half-hour format as a short drama. The show could continue as a series of TV movies like Tom Sellek's Jesse Stone movies on rival network CBS.
If ABC network does not renew CARTER, she could find a new life on another network, like 'Bionic Woman' did in the 1970s. She could move to a cable channel such as ABC Family or DisneyXD, much as Law and Order: Criminal Intent moved from NBC broadcast to USA cable a few years ago. NBC and USA are both within the NBC/Universal/Comcast umbrella. Alternatively a streaming service such as Netflix could pick her up, as they recently did for Longmire, after A&E dropped that series.
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The specualtions are my own. My sources for the facts:
http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/michele-fazekas-tara-butters-abc-studios-production-deal-1201418723/
http://deadline.com/2015/01/michele-fazekas-tara-butters-pod-deal-abc-studios-1201362683/
Image credits
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