ABC Paves Way for 'October Road'

Zap2It.com | October 16, 2006

Laura Prepon

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Network revives project after passing at upfronts

LOS ANGELES -- ABC has revived one of its passed-over pilots from last spring's development season, giving a six-episode order to the drama "October Road."

The show is about a novelist (Bryan Greenberg, "One Tree Hill") who returns to the town where he grew up to teach and face the people he left behind. The series also stars Laura Prepon ("That '70s Show") and Tom Berenger ("Into the West").

Although ABC opted not to pick up "October Road" for its fall lineup this past May, it had a fan in ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson, the showbiz trade papers say. The network and its Disney sibling, Touchstone TV, extended their options on the show's cast over the summer, allowing for the possibility of a future pickup.

Touchstone has also found a producing partner in GroupM Entertainment, which includes several media-buying agencies. The company will pay for part of "October Road's" production cost in exchange for getting to sell some of the show's commercial spots directly to advertisers.

GroupM and ABC previously worked together under a similar arrangement on "The Days," which ran for six weeks in the summer of 2004.

"Alias" veterans Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec, along with Scott Rosenberg ("High Fidelity") and director Gary Fleder ("Runaway Jury") are the executive producers of "October Road." ABC hasn't said when the show might air, although midseason or summer 2007 are the most likely spots.