Oscar-nominated director Alfonso Cuaron is trying television for the first time, teaming with producer J.J. Abrams on a new series.
The two have known each other for about 20 years, and Abrams was eager to work with Cuaron. Cuaron is up for a best director Oscar for "Gravity," the category he won at the Golden Globes.
Cuaron concocted the idea for "Believe," debuting March 10 on NBC, while shooting "Gravity" with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. He contacted Abrams, who came aboard as co-executive producer for the series starring Delroy Lindo, Kyle MacLachlan and Jamie Chung.
Cuaron joked Sunday to the Television Critics Association that after working in space, he wanted to do something where people weren't floating. The series revolves around a 10-year-old girl with supernatural powers who's pursued by sinister forces.
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In this May 31, 2006 file photo, film critic Gene Shalit is seen during a toast with "Today" show cast and crew at the end of Katie Couric's final show, in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
Gene Shalit, a movie critic and arts reporter for the "Today" show over four decades who was known for his puffy hair, oversized handlebar mustache and affection for groan-inducing puns, has died. He was 100.
Shalit's family announced the death Friday to NBC News, saying in a statement that he "passed away peacefully today after 100 years of an amazing life."
Shalit joined "Today" as a contributor in 1970 and became arts editor in 1973, later settling in for his segment, "Critic's Corner." When he left the show in 2010, he was one of the last high-profile film critics on a major network.
"What resonated above his unusual appearance was his incredible wit, his remarkable intelligence. But he didn't pound you over the head with it. He amused you. He enlightened and amused whatever subject he was on," Guy Ludwig, Shalit's producer for more than 20 years, wrote in an essay of his time.
It was no coincidence that Chicago critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel's local "thumbs-up, thumbs-down" movie-review program, "Sneak Previews," went national on PBS in the late 1970s and that "Today" show's ABC rival, "Good Morning America," hired Joel Siegel to be its movie critic in 1981.
"Shalit was instrumental in changing the balance of critical power in America. When he began his 'Today' tenure, newspapers and magazines were the primary sources for movie reviews. That's where cinematic opinion was sparked and shaped," The Plain Dealer wrote in 2010, calling Shalit "Daniel Boone in a bow tie and Groucho glasses."
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