TRUE BLOOD Boss Bringing Medicine To HBO

Alan Ball is a busy man, with his usual showrunner duties on True Blood and developing several new series, starting with Bansha on Cinemax (which we reported on back in August) and now he’s putting together a medical drama for HBO. The hour-long drama is known as Wichita (anyone else immediately think of Zombieland?) and will focus on a Kansas surgeon who “becomes the focal point of a contemporary political, cultural and ethical war.”

Ball will executive produce the project along with writer Devin Friedman, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Friedman was responsible for an article in GQ about Dr. George Tiller, who was one of the few remaining physicians who would provide late-term abortions. Tiller survived an assassination attempt in ’93 and was shot in the eye and killed in ’09 by Scott Roeder. If Friedman’s article is any indication on what Wichita will be like; we can expect it to be extremely controversial. Abortion will always be a touchy topic, whether you’re religious or not. That’s just something we as people will never 100% agree on.

Friedman will write the script as well as co-executive produce. Jimmy Miller is also an executive producer. Aside from his current three projects, Ball has also signed on to direct a dark-comedy for Paramount. Whether or not you enjoy Ball’s work, you have to give the guy a hand for staying as busy as he does. The amount of work he puts in is commendable.