Can David Milch save the TV cop show?

I gave up on watching cop shows several years ago because, like Emily Gilmore, I "simply don't find forensic work as fascinating as the rest of the world." I'm really not knocking the 42 varieties of CSI or anything else that's on the air now, but it's just not my thing.

Earlier this year, however, I found out just what I had been missing when I caught up with the first three seasons of "The Wire" on DVD. Anyone who used to love "Homicide" needs to watch these as soon as possible. The arc of season three in particular, if I may use a truly cringeworthy term, is downright Shakespearian.

Since then, my cubicle mate (and occasional Reel Fanatic guest reviewer) Rodney Manley and I have treadmilled our way through the first season of David Milch's "Deadwood" and are now embarking on season two. Those old (or maybe they still use them) commercials that said "It's not TV, it's HBO"? Well, you really can't call it arrogant when it's true. Milch's "Deadwood" is possibly the most profane show I've ever seen (and therefore rather hard to watch at work), but also simply one of the best TV Westerns ever made.

I tell you all that (in an admittedly rather long lead) to tell you this: With Milch's "John from Cincinnati" (which I didn't watch) flaming out after one season, he's now back with HBO on a singular mission: To save the TV cop show.

What he's pitching is familiar, NY cops on the beat, but I'm sure he'll still have something new to say. The project will apparently be about a Vietnam veteran who returns to the U.S. in the early 1970s and joins the New York City police force. The story is loosely based on the experience of former "NYPD Blue" exec producer Bill Clark, who is developing the show with Milch.

The things I don't know could easily fill a rather mundane book, but you can add to that long list this: I had no idea that Milch was one of the co-creators of "Blue," a show my parents and I used to watch religiously, and also a writer for "Hill Street Blues." Now that's a pedigree.

This probably means the other possible Milch project I had hoped for, a pair of "Deadwood" movies, is dead for now, but I'll take whatever I can get and, given its slump of late, surely so will HBO.

Raimi to direct "The Hobbit"?

I would have lead with this, but I'm not sure I'm ready to believe it yet.

According to the usually very reliable IESB.net, its "sources" are saying that though Peter Jackson and New Line's Bob Shaye are in the first stage of kissing and making up, Jackson won't be coming back to direct "The Hobbit." Instead, according to IESB, he would sign on as a producer and hand the reins over to Sam Raimi.

Now, after the disaster that was "Spidey 3," no director is in greater need of a new franchise than Raimi, and I'd much rather see him do this than any remake of "Clash of the Titans," but why would Jackson want to do this? I find it hard to believe he would get back in bed with New Line and not want to be the director on this, but I've been wrong at least once before. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

As for Raimi, I do have faith he could pull this off. With the last "Spider-Man" flick he just seemed to be bored, but before that he did manage to craft my single favorite superhero flick in "Spider-Man 2," so I know he can bounce back again. Maybe "The Hobbit" would be just what he needs.

Michael Cera to 'Revolt'

Michael Cera, a k a the funniest guy on the Internet, has set up his next project, "Youth in Revolt," an adaptation of the C.D. Payne novel (which I haven't yet read.)

Mr. Cera, of course, is one of the stars of a little movie called "Superbad" I may have mentioned here a few times before. And, in case you're wondering what makes him the funniest man on the 'Net, just watch a few episodes of Clark and Michael and try not to get hooked.

Payne's self-published novel apparently caught on with the youths (who, it's becoming more clear to me everyday, I know nothing about) and led to a series of books featuring a teenager named Nick Twisp. The conceit of the novels is that Twisp strives to balance out his budding sexual urges while remaining an intellectual teenager in a world of moronic adults.

In the first novel, Twisp meets the girl of his dreams while on a family vacation and he turns his life and the lives of all those around him upside down in order to be with her. Gustin Nash wrote the screenplay.

Cera told the Hollywood Reporter that he's a huge fan of the book, having read it four times. "I have a copy signed by C.D. Payne. It's my most prized possession."

Well, anything that Michael Cera's read four times is certainly one I can bother to read once, so I soon will.

Actually, there's another Cera project that I'm more jazzed about (and have mentioned here before.) It's the next movie from Jason Reitman, "Juno," which was penned by Minneapolis City Pages scribe and blogger Diablo Cody. The coming-of-age story about a young lady who finds herself pregnant may actually have the best cast yet (a title I admittedly throw around rather loosely): Cera, Ellen Page (huzzah!), Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, Rainn Wilson, Allison Janney and J.K. Simmons (huzzah again!) I'm not sure when this will finally come out, but it's got to be soon, so keep your eyes out.

A Tyler Perry trailer

For a dude who keeps things so positive, Tyler Perry certainly does seem to generate a lot of hate, but it will never come from me. I really like his movies for what they essentially are, fairy tales, and apparently some other people do too.

His latest admittedly doesn't have a terribly thrilling premise, but his movies rarely do. This one, "Why Did I Get Married?", follows couples on a winter retreat on a mission to save their marriages (as best as I can tell). It's set to star Mr. Perry (not as Madea), Janet Jackson and Jill Scott, and come out, I believe, in November. Enjoy, and have an entirely suck-free Wednesday. Peace out.