With the massive success of Glee, it’s pretty much inevitable that at least one network will take a stab at launching another music-themed series in the next year or so. Last month we told you about a summer-camp-themed musical that was in the works; now Vulture has learned that the CW is developing a struggling rock-band drama for next season. What made this project pop for us: It’s being shepherded by Jeff Kwatinetz, the headline-making music manager/mogul who once managed Britney Spears, was once engaged to Brittany Murphy, and now helps oversee the careers of Ice Cube, Backstreet Boys, and R. Kelly. So can we expect the new show to be filled with all sorts of plotlines based on Kwatinetz’s own wild ride through the music biz? Sadly, it doesn’t sound like it — but that doesn’t mean this show still couldn’t be fun.
Tentatively dubbed The Prickly Spheres, our insiders say the potential show will revolve around a classical-music prodigy who turns down a full ride at Julliard and instead ends up joining an alternative-rock band in Minneapolis filled with quirky but super-talented musicians. (It sort of sounds like a reboot of Fox’s short-lived 1992 soap The Heights, no?) Matt Goldman (The Wizards of Waverly Place) is writing the pilot, with Kwatinetz and his production partner RIch Frank producing via their red-hot Prospect Park Entertainment (USA’s Royal Pains, FX’s upcoming Wilfred). While the Prickly plotline doesn’t promise the sort of tell-all rock exposé we’re certain Kwatinetz has in him, his insider knowledge could at least give this project a slightly grittier edge than Glee. Just don’t count on Spears making any cameos.