Hugh Laurie to return to TV for NBC’s ‘Crossbones’

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NBC is in talks with former House star Hugh Laurie for their new, 10-episode action-adventure series, Crossbones, from Luther creator Neil Cross, and producers Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald. Laurie is in negotiations to portray the role of the notorious English pirate Blackbeard, which means Laurie will get to hold onto his native accent for the role (it’s a testament to Laurie’s skills as an actor that I’ll never not find it jarring to hear Dr. Gregory House speaking in an English accent. It just further contributes to my long-standing belief that foreign actors can do Americans better than we can do them.

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The 10-episode Crossbones is set in 1715 on the Bahamian island of New Providence, the first functioning democracy in the Americas, where the diabolical pirate Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard, reigns over a rogue nation of thieves, outlaws and miscreant sailors. Part shantytown, part marauder’s paradise, this is a place like no other on earth — and a mounting threat to international commerce.

Cross wrote the script and is executive producing with Parkes, MacDonald and Ted Gold for Parkes/MacDonald Prods; Georgeville Television, Reliance Entertainment/Motion Picture Capital’s new TV Studio; and Universal Television. The project reunites Laurie with Universal TV, which produced the Fox medical drama House, which ended its eight-season run in May. The role of the brilliant but troubled Dr. Gregory House earned Laurie six Emmy nominations and two Golden Globe awards. He is with WME and UK’s Hamilton Hodell.

Full story: Deadline