It was back in May when we last heard about Frank Darabont's brewing "L.A. Noir," and its status was uncertain. The pilot episode had wrapped, but a decision was still pending from TNT as to whether or not they would be pushing forward with it. Now, fourth months later, not only do we have our first moody image, it comes with the news that the network has ordered up a six-episode first season of the show. A nice rebound for Darabont after an acrimonious exit from "The Walking Dead."
Based on the book by John Buntin, and featuring ex-'Dead' Jon Bernthal alongside Neal McDonough, Milo Ventimiglia and Thomas Jane, a guest appearance by Simon Pegg and more, the show will center on an ex-Marine turned L.A.P.D. cop (Bernthal) who finds himself in the middle of the war between Captain William Parker (McDonough) and infamous gangster Mickey Cohen. So yes, it's treading on the same territory as "Gangster Squad" a bit, though without Ryan Gosling's squawky voice. We'll let Deadline break down how the characters and threads play out:
LA Noir stars Jon Bernthal as Joe Teague, an ex-Marine now working as an LAPD cop in an era rampant with police corruption. Jeffrey DeMunn plays Det. Hal Morrison, who heads up the LAPD’s new mob squad, with Jeremy Strong as Det. Mike Hendry, Morrison’s second in command. Neal McDonough is Capt. William Parker, Teague’s boss who is determined to weed out corruption and bring down Mickey Cohen. And Milo Ventimiglia plays Ned Stax, who fought alongside Teague during World War II but who now works as a lawyer with connections to the mob. The project also co-stars Ron Rifkin plays Los Angeles Mayor Fletcher Bowron, who makes it his mission to clean up corruption in city government; Pihla Viitala as Anya, the head bartender at Bunny’s on Central Avenue, the West Coast center of the African-American jazz scene; and Alexa Davalos as Jasmine, a beautiful woman whose past has come back to haunt her.
All told, a drama set in the world of cops and criminals in the '40s and '50s sounds pretty awesome to us, especially with Darabont leading the project. There's no word yet on an air date, but he apparently took 10 months from greenlight to deliver just the pilot episode — let's hope his work rate is a bit faster now. Late 2013 airing? Fingers crossed.