So MGM announced yesterday that the next James Bond movie -- number 23, if you're keeping track -- has been put on hold "indefinitely" because the studio is for sale and they have no idea what's going on with it.

This is scary stuff. It reminds me of those awful years when everything was put on hold so long that Timothy Dalton said "the heck with this, yo" and left and they were without a Bond for a while. Everything turned out OK, as Pierce Brosnan was Bond for several flicks and then Daniel Craig for the reboot. Let's hope that things get settled before everyone decides to move on.

But it got me thinking: isn't it about time we had a 007 TV series? Why not?

James Bond has been on TV before. In fact, Bond made his debut on television, not the movies, in the "Casino Royale" episode of the CBS anthology series 'Climax!' in 1954. He was played by an American actor, Barry Nelson, and went by the name Jimmy Bond, so let's be glad they never made a movie featuring those changes.

Maybe if they made a prequel to the Bond movies, featuring Bond as a five year-old battling villains Dr. No Don't Touch That It's Hot and Goldfingerpainting in pre-school, they could call him "Jimmy," but it doesn't work for a tuxedoed Brit ordering a Vodka Martini in a Paris bar.

But 'James Bond' would make for an excellent TV series. Or maybe with '24' ending we'd have to go with title '007.' Network art departments could have some fun with that logo. It would be interesting if they did the books again, only do them in order and keep the plots very close to the way Ian Fleming wrote them.

A Bond series would be too expensive? Good! We don't need all of the over-the-top stuff you see in a lot of the Bond movies. Maybe keeping the budget in check will keep the scripts in check. I'm leaning towards having this on cable and not FOX or NBC, for 20 different reasons.

And can you imagine the press kits they'd send out for a James Bond TV series? <drool>

Though who would play 007 on TV? Let's assume that Daniel Craig (an excellent Bond) wouldn't want to be tied down to a weekly TV series, who else could step into the agent's shoes?

How about 'Miami Medical' star Jeremy Northam? 'Lost's' Naveen Andrews has shown he has the physical chops for the role, not to mention the accent. Recent 'Dancing with the Stars' contestant Aiden Turner hinted that he'd like to be the next James Bond. I think his subtle words were something along the lines of "I'd like to be the next James Bond." Simon Baker from 'The Mentalist?' Goran Visnjic? Andy Whitfield from 'Spartacus: Blood & Sand?'

And let's throw Kiefer Sutherland into the mix, shall we? Yeah, he's American, but he's been THE spy on television for the past several years so you know he'd be mentioned in such a scenario. Since we're listing Sutherland, we also have to list Jeffrey Donovan.

This would usually be the part where I should be completely PC and list a couple of women too, just to be balanced and all that, but that's not going to happen. I know, I know, call me a "sexist misogynist dinosaur" -- to quote Judi Dench's M in 'Goldeneye' -- but Bond should be played by a guy.




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