Tuned In: New book includes 'Three Rivers' back story
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Steve Boman -- Uncredited creator of "Three Rivers" series did not want the show to be set in Pittsburgh.
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Remember "Three Rivers," the 2009 Pittsburgh-set CBS medical show about transplant doctors? Even if you don't, there's a Hollywood back story to the production: "Three Rivers" had a transplant of its own.
Steve Boman, the novice screenwriter who came up with the idea for the series wasn't listed as the show's creator. By allowing a veteran showrunner to take control of the concept and write the pilot script, the show stood a better chance of getting picked up to series. As part of that bargain, Mr. Boman was effectively muzzled by network/studio executives, who preferred having executive producer Carol Barbee ("Jericho") as the show's behind-the-scenes spokeswoman.
But now Mr. Boman gets to have his say in "Film School" ($16.95, BenBella Books), a book that chronicles his admission to the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts at midlife. He survived a stroke during his first week of classes and ultimately pitched the show that would become "Three Rivers" as a class project.
Mr. Boman, a journalist by trade who worked as a transplant coordinator for a year in Chicago at age 25, ultimately had a "producer" credit on "Three Rivers" rather than "created by," a more prestigious and lucrative credit, particularly in success. "Three Rivers" was canceled after just one season.
"This was both an enlightening and frustrating experience because I didn't know as a graduate student in film production the intricacies of inside-baseball Hollywood," he said in a phone interview last week. "And in retrospect, I don't know if I would have done anything differently because it did get on the air. ... I went from as low on the totem pole as you can get to having a show I came up with on television."
Mr. Boman, who is now developing other TV series and screenplays, doesn't express sour grapes about his "Three Rivers" experience in "Film School," but he does wish he'd been more involved in the show's production. Frankly, from a publicity standpoint, it would have made sense to have him be able to talk up the show's bona fides given his background.
First Published November 18, 2011 12:00 am
