TCA: HBO executives look to future with old friends

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‘The Sopranos’ and ‘Sex and the City’ may be gone, but HBO is tapping those familiar wells as it searches for its next programming breakthrough.

The pay cable network announced today at the TV press tour in Beverly Hills that it has officially ordered pilots for three shows, from ‘Sex’ star Sarah Jessica Parker, ‘Sopranos’ Executive Producer Terence Winter as well as ‘The Wire’ creator David Simon.

The proposed series fit well with HBO’s programming strategy after the exit of longtime network architect Chris Albrecht. The plan seems to be to greenlight a greater number of shows than in the past, without fundamentally changing the notion of what an HBO series should be.

‘We’ve had to be a little more proactive’ in pursuing projects, Michael Lombardo, president of the network’s programming group, told reporters. But ‘the kinds of things we’ve wanted haven’t changed.’

Parker will produce a half-hour comedy pilot called ‘Washingtonienne,’ based on Jessica Cutler’s controversial book about her racy life as a political aide and blogger in Washington.

Winter is working on ‘Boardwalk Empire,’ a drama about Atlantic City in the 1920s.

And Simon, with his longtime writing partner Eric Overmyer, will produce ‘Treme,’ a drama about life in post-Katrina New Orleans. Simon is also an executive producer of ‘Generation Kill,’ the HBO Iraq drama premiering Sunday.

All three projects have been talked about previously, but HBO had not confirmed that the pilots would be made until now.

Network officials conceded that the three-month writers strike delayed their plans considerably. Lombardo said he’d hoped, for example, that new episodes of ‘Entourage’ and the new vampire drama ‘True Blood’ would be available by now. As it is, ‘True Blood’ won’t debut until Sept. 7.

Executives also confirmed that the long-awaited TV movie tied to ‘Deadwood’ -- which was supposed to tie up loose ends left hanging after the series was abruptly canceled -- will not happen.

Richard Plepler, HBO’s co-president, told reporters: ‘The likelihood of a ‘Deadwood’ movie happening is slim to none.’

-- Scott Collins

(Photo Sarah Jessica Parker courtesy Peter Foley / EPA)