Between Rick Perry, Ted Cruz and Wendy Davis, Texas politicians in recent years have lived up to their state’s reputation for producing larger-than-life characters.
That makes the Texas political scene a natural for the Hollywood treatment.
HBO has given God Save Texas, a drama about the state’s often raucous political culture, the green light for development. It’s set to unfold at the Texas statehouse, a perennial flashpoint for national debates about issues ranging from abortion to gun rights to the size and role of government.
According to an early description first reported by Deadline.com, the show will follow an “idealistic cowboy” who, after election to the state Legislature, “becomes the target of the powerful energy lobby and learns how to survive in the crazy, brutal world of Texas politics.”
It’s being developed from Sonny’s Last Shot, a 2005 play by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Lawrence Wright, who will also write and co-produce the show.
State government isn’t typical fodder for premium cable, but Texas politics have lately gripped the nation’s imagination, pushing the state’s colorful perspectives and personalities into the fore. “The thing about Texas is that it’s a little larger than life,” Executive Producer Lauren Shuler Donner said. “You can’t make up characters like this.”
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SOURCE: GREGORY BARBER
NPR
