Slumdog joins the Network – “More As This Story Develops…”

Award-winning scribe Aaron Sorkin announced in January that he will make a return to television with the fly-on-the-wall, show within a show, More As This Story Develops. Following from his success with last years The Social Network , it seems Sorkin has another network within his sights – America’s cable news outlets.

MATSD (get used to that acronym) follows the aftermath of a cast and crew exodus on a fictitious cable news channel as co-anchor (Harry Dunne himself) Jeff Daniels deals with the resulting restructure. The series has been commissioned by master risk-takers HBO, who have nabbed Superbad and Paul director Greg Mottola to helm the pilot.

Daniels will play Will McCallister, a Keith Olbermann-esque, self-righteous news man obsessed with smashing the conservative cable news competition idealistically, yet unable to do so in the ratings. Joining Daniels is Emily Mortimer, Law & Order legend Sam Waterston and just announced Slumdog Millionaire lead Dev Patel.

This is not new territory for Daniels, having played Sig Mickelson – the pioneer of television news as we know it – in George Clooney’s love letter to journalism, Good Night, and Good Luck.

With the slant the ratings-conscious US media have taken in the last ten years, we have high hopes that Sorkin (wearing his West-Wing hat) could be on the verge of creating the American answer to our very own Frontline.