Chalk up yet another actor known for his film work looking to dip his toe in the world of the small screen: Dennis Quaid is negotiating to land the lead in Goodfellas writer Nicholas Pileggi’s new TV pilot Ralph Lamb.
The show would be taken from the experiences of real-life Las Vegas lawman Lamb, who made the switch from rodeo cowboy to sheriff of Clark County and oversaw Sin City in the volatile, gangster-filled time of the 1960s and ‘70s.
Michael Chiklis, who carved a swathe through criminals himself (albeit by less-than legal means) in The Shield, is in talks to play a Chicago mobster who makes trouble for our hero. And Cop Land director James Mangold has been set to call the shots for the pilot.
According to Vulture, it’s not exactly a done deal for Quaid yet as he and his team are still thrashing out a deal with the producers and CBS. If he does sign, it’ll be his first TV lead. And it’s certainly a juicy one, with plenty of scope for exciting stories. But that all assumes it gets beyond a pilot, and that CBS – home to episodic procedural shows like CSI – allows it to breathe.
Pileggi’s a busy man at the moment. As well as Lamb, he’s developing a TV take on **Goodfellas for Mad Men network AMC.