Remember that proposed remake of the British crime series 'Prime Suspect' for NBC? You can forget about it... for a while anyway. NBC has shelved 'Prime Suspect' till June and the reason why is all about casting. This, my friends, is exactly what we were saying when the idea first surfaced.

The notion that you're going to find an actress as perfect for the role of detective chief inspector Jane Tennison as Helen Mirren is madness. T'aint gonna happen. She's an Oscar, Emmy, SAG and Golden Globe winner for a reason. She's freaking brilliant.

So, NBC is acknowledging that they have not found another Helen Mirren and will not push 'Prime Suspect' into pilot production at this time. Veteran writer/producer Hank Steinberg -- he did 'Without A Trace' for CBS -- has wisely decided to push the project back and revisit it in June. It could always be created as a mid-season show instead of a fall 2010 premiere... assuming the project comes together.

Is it cynical of me to question the wisdom of NBC trying to adapt the British detective series Prime Suspect for American TV? It probably is, but after the disappointment of Life on Mars (I know, some of you liked the ABC version, but I was not in that camp), I have worries about the way American writers and producers rework excellent British TV shows and suck the life out of them in the process.

What makes Prime Suspect particularly of concern is that the British show had a great actress starring in it. Helen Mirren has deserved every award -- Oscar, Tony, Golden Globe -- that she's received. As the tough-as-nails detective chief inspector Jane Tennison, she was simply amazing.

Beats me.

As I mentioned in my Five Canceled Shows post, this show was the most critically-acclaimed new show of the fall season and it had the nice time slot after Lost on Wednesday nights? It had a really strong cast and an intriguing pilot. So what the hell happened? The LA Times investigates, talking to the show's creator Hank Steinberg.

The whole thing was odd from the get-go, as The Nine's very first episode didn't even the numbers that ABC thought it would, and then the ratings fell from there. People who didn't like the show can say that the show didn't live up to the pre-season hype or the quality of the pilot, but that doesn't explain why the pilot wasn't watched by more people.

One thing the article says that I don't quite believe is that the show hasn't been officially canceled by the network. Yeah, if you want to get into semantics. The network says the show might be back in March or April, but at the same time it pulled the show because of low ratings and hasn't ordered anymore.