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Greenwalt Close to Terms With 'Miracles'
Fri, May 24, 2002 12:20 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - David Greenwalt, the co-creator and executive producer of The WB's "Angel" is close to signing a contract with Touchstone Television to serve as the showrunner for the new ABC fall season drama "Miracles," reports the Hollywood Reporter.

Greenwalt will continue to work on "Angel" as a creative consultant. Sources suggest that David Simkins ("Roswell," "FreakyLinks") is likely to be the replacement showrunner for the vampire drama, which will enter its fourth season in the fall.

"An unexpected thing happened to me when I first read and then saw the pilot for 'Miracles,' which is that I fell in love," says Greenwalt. "It's got everything -- it asks the big questions about existence, it's got irony and danger and horror and hope, and these are all the things that I love."

"Miracles" stars Skeet Ulrich as a young man assigned to find a scientific basis that will explain reported miracles. But when he witnesses something he can't explain, he is led to team up with a mysterious organization that conducts investigations of its own into the paranormal. Some critics have already suggested that the show looks to be something of a spiritual "X-Files."

"It's a good move for him," says Joss Whedon, creator and executive producer of both "Angel" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," who has worked with Greenwalt for many years. "He's still gonna consult for 'Angel,' so that's good for me, but it's killing me. I'm losing a great writer, a great producer, a great director and a guy without whom I have yet to make an hour of TV. He's the real deal, and there aren't that many of those."

Greenwalt has also worked on the TV series "Profit" and "The Wonder Years," as well as a handful of movies, including "Secret Admirer" which he co-wrote and directed.

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Originally posted by mojoeca:
Bottomline, Joss hired him. So if he has faith, then so do I.

Revised to add:
With regard to Greenwalt departing, that's okay by me. He's shaky when it comes to writing. Though I liked Sleep Tight, it's all plot. When it comes to the characters (Offspring, Tomorrow), he drops the ball. He'll still be consulting, though. Not sure what exactly that means -- Perhaps he'll participate in breaking eps from time to time, or pitch story ideas.

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Originally posted by Pandora:


>>Granted, Greenwalt may not be perfect... but who is this Simkin character? Freakylinks? Roswell (sorry fans, I liked the first season too, but it's not up to ME par IMO)? Dark Angel? Charmed? Lois and Clark?<<

Well, let's remember who the last L&C alum to join Mutant Enemy was: Tim Minear. And honestly, the Roswell thing is kind of encouraging to me, because (at least in the beginning) Roswell wrote relationships fairly well. Right now, ATS doesn't seem to have a clue how to handle romance; I don't want the show to be a soap opera, but I think there has to be some way to integrate relationships into larger drama. Maybe this guy can do it. I don't know. I am willing to find out.


>>And this Miracles thing sounds kind of like Highway to Heaven meets X-files, or Touched by a Skeptic- or something.

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I'm with you there. The premise does zero for me. I will probably turn in out of interest, just to see what Greenwalt does with it, but there's no way I'd watch otherwise.

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Originally posted by bobknaptor:
I miss Lindsey. Here's my vote for more "evil hand" episodes. He's certainly more interesting then Lila...

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