ABC to bring DC's 'Fables' alive

"Six Degrees" creators/executive producers to pen pilot

By Nellie Andreeva and Borys Kit
Dec 8, 2008, 01:00 AM ET


DC Comics' "Fables" is heading to ABC.

The network has handed out a put pilot commitment to the fantasy project, based on the comic book created by Bill Willingham and published by DC's Vertigo imprint.

"Six Degrees" creators/executive producers Stu Zicherman and Raven Metzner are penning the script for the hourlong drama set at Warner Bros. TV.

David Semel has come on board to direct "Fables," which revolves around characters from fairy tales and folklore living in exile in modern-day New York.

"Their lives become interconnected in vary big way," Zicherman said. "They share a secret and a bond."

Zicherman and Metzner wouldn't elaborate which fairy tale characters will be featured in the TV series, but noted that Big Bad Wolf and Snow White, who are central to the comics, will have a similar role on the show.

The comic book series' first storyline followed Fabletown's sheriff, a reformed and pardoned Big Bad Wolf, who investigates the murder of Snow White's party-girl sister, Rose Red.

"We set up a structure to allow any fairy tale character to show up in any one episode," Metzner said.

The fairy tale characters will keep some of their trademark characteristics. For instance, Prince Charming will be handsome, while Big Bad Wolf will have to shave a four-day shadow from growing back every day.

But overall, "they are just like real people in the real world who live and breathe and look just like you and me," Metzner said.

Describing themselves as "lifetime comic book fans," Zicherman and Metzner fell in love with "Fables" when they read the series' first issue in 2002.

NBC took a stab at developing a TV series based on the comics during the 2006-07 development season with writer Craig Silverstein.

WMA-repped Zicherman and Metzner, who met in college, have been a writing team for the past 10 years.

Semel, repped by UTA and 3 Arts, has directed the pilots for such series as "Heroes," "My Own Worst Enemy," "Life" and "The Cleaner."