2017 pilot is McEntire’s first TV dramatic role
Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry is interested in revisiting the 2017 Red Blooded pilot starring Reba McEntire. The creator and showrunner is considering taking the “Southern Gothic soap opera,” which ABC TV passed on, to streaming outlets where he says it can be better than on network TV.
“I was going to examine some different issues: [Reba]’s an older white female, and I had her paired with a young Muslim F.B.I. agent. We were going to compare and contrast cultural differences,” Cherry tells the New York Times. “So ABC made their decision, and in a weird way, I’m glad. I’m going to probably try to take another bite of that apple. And now that I’ve discovered the amazing world of streaming, I would rather work with Reba in a streaming atmosphere because you just get to do better work.”
The pilot was filmed in Georgia in March 2017 and was expected to go to series after it “received a script commitment plus penalty in a competitive situation” after a bidding war. However, ABC passed on the “Southern Gothic soap opera” in 2017 and wasn’t successful when ABC Studios pitched it to other networks.
In Red Blooded, McEntire plays the local sheriff in the small town of Oxblood, Kentucky where a suspected act of terrorism happens at a 4th of July parade. A cocky FBI agent of Middle Eastern descent is sent to investigate in which the pair uncover secrets “far darker than either could have ever imagined.”
The series marks McEntire’s first dramatic TV role. She previously starred as Reba Hart in Reba from 2001-2007 on The WB/The CW and played Reba MacKenzie in the short lived ABC sitcom, Malibu Country in 2012.
“I’m a dark character, Ruby Adair,” McEntire tells CMT After MidNite host Cody Alan in early 2017. “I’ve got a lot of flaws and demons, and I’m having a lot of problems in my personal life. My town is being disrupted and I’m having to deal with it all. I’m under a lot of stress.”
We will share more details should they become available.
