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David Milch

Milch Reads “Luck”

This is awesome: David Milch reads from the first 20 pages of “Luck.” The reading, which took place at the Kelly Writers House in April, begins about 17 minutes into the audio (MP3). There’s a little dark humor, a lot of racetrack talk. It sounds very, very promising. (Thanks to Tony Hanadarko for the link!)

HBO has yet to make a decision about the “Luck” pilot, filmed this spring, but Santa Anita officials believe there is “a very strong possibility” it will pick up the racetrack drama, which stars Nick Nolte and Dustin Hoffman.

7/15/10 Update: HBO has picked up “Luck.” Said a network executive, “Michael Mann delivered a pilot from David Milch’s brilliant script that took our breath away.” Production will start this fall, the show will air in 2011.

Posted in Media on July 12, 2010 / Tagged David Milch, HBO, Kelly Writers House, Luck, Readings, Santa Anita, TV, UPenn

Odds and Ends

From an interview in TDN with David Milch, on “Luck,” his new show for HBO:

I hope it’s going to be an awful lot of fun, but I am realistic enough to know that not every day at the racetrack ends with people skipping happily through the flowers. With anything that is a passion, I think it’s a passion because it accomodates a whole range of feelings, some of which are mutually exclusive. It’s both love and pain. I would hope this will render the full spectrum of emotions. If you ask me whether I’m looking forward to it, I’m absolutely looking forward to it. Do I expect it to be fun? I’m not sure.

Milch knows the darker side of racing and gambling well. Via o_crunk, a profile of the writer that includes a fascinating scene revolving around a tip.

A look can say so much:

The only anxious moment came heading into the first turn, when it appeared that Bunker Hill, under Chuck Lopez, would challenge Understatement on the front end. Following a glance from Cohen, Lopez backed off.

“I gave him a look like ‘Come on man, don’t do that to me,'” Cohen said. “Save that for the next race.”

Bunker Hill finished last in the Evening Attire Stakes, won by favored Understatement in 1:42.94 with unchallenged ease on Saturday at Aqueduct.

Zenyatta will race in 2010! Reactions to the thrilling news gathered here.

Posted in Racing on January 17, 2010 / Tagged Aqueduct, David Cohen, David Milch, Evening Attire Stakes, HBO, Jockeys, Luck, TV, Zenyatta