UPDATE 2.11.10: I originally posted this last July, when buzz started that NBC was going to remake the classic James Garner drama The Rockford Files. The Hollywood Reporter recently mentioned Matt Dillon‘s name as one of the actors producers were persuing for the redo, but in the last couple of days here at TVScreener.com, fans have been excitedly voicing their support for Stargate: Atlantis star Joe Flanigan as the man who could fill Garner’s Emmy-winning Rockford shoes.

I agree, Flanigan would be an excellent Jim Rockford, able to pull off the humor, the leading man charm, the action bits … Rockford producers, the people have spoken (and are continuing to speak). Is Mr. Flanigan on your Rockford Files short list?

FROM JULY 2009:
NBC is remaking the ’70s PI drama The Rockford Files, the classic series starring James Garner as trailer-dwellin’ ex-convict investigator Jim Rockford. NBC is moving the action to modern day, and here’s hoping they also stick with the character being in his 40s or 40s (Garner was 46 when the show began in 1974), which should make for interesting casting.

A few suggestions off the top of my head: Christian Slater, Jason Bateman (not that he’s headed back to TV anytime soon with his hot film career in full swing), Paul Rudd (ditto the film career) and Matthew Perry, who has been trying to get back to TV series work since the failure of his NBC dramedy Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and his Showtime comedy The End of Steve didn’t make the cut at the cable network.

Any other ideas about who would make the perfect new school Jim Rockford?

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• Tags: '70s TV dramas, Christian Slater, James Garner, Jason Bateman, Joe Flanigan Rockford Files, Matthew Perry, Paul Rudd, The Rockford Files, The Rockford Files remake

While we Arrested Development fans impatiently wait for that big-screen movie that’s been in development seemingly since the show left the tube in 2006, Details mag has star Jason Bateman as its cover guy.

The accompanying interview features the charming 40-year-old former child star (Little House on the Prairie, Silver Spoons, Valerie and the very underrated It’s Your Move) dishing about his wild twentysomething years in Hollywood and why and how he finally made the decision to grow up.

Excerpts from the article (which you can read online):

Bateman on his hard-partying 20s: “It was like Risky Business for 10 years,” he says of the nineties. “My parents were out of town, they left me a bunch of money, the car, and the house, and I didn’t know when they were coming home. I’d worked so hard that by the time I was 20, I wanted to play hard. And I did that really well.”

Bateman on his decision to stop partying, after an ultimatum from his wife (Paul Anka’s daughter, Amanda): “I was never at a place where rehab would have been appropriate,” he says of his drug use. “Booze was what would make me want to stay out all night and do some blow or smoke a joint or whatever, so shutting that off was key. It’s like ketchup and French fries—I don’t want one without the other. So that’s the moment: Do you want to continue being great at being in your twenties, or do you want to step up and graduate into adulthood?”

Bateman on his career: “This isn’t a way to make a living that you can have any control over. You can’t kiss the boss’s ass and work extra hard to get that promotion. Things are going better now than ever, but in 24 months? I could be hearing crickets.”

And Bateman on the Arrested Development movie: “We’re gonna make the movie. Mitch Hurwitz is just starting to write it. It’ll be out in a year and a half.”

The actor, who’s currently filming the comedy Paul with Simon Pegg and Seth Rogen, has a string of upcoming movie roles, including Up in the Air, a dramedy with George Clooney; The Baster, a romantic comedy with Jennifer Aniston; Couples Retreat with Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Kristen Bell and Kristen Davis; Extract, a Mike Judge comedy with Mila Kunis and Ben Affleck; and The Invention of Lying, a comedy with Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, Patrick Stewart, Jeffrey Tambor, Rob Lowe and Christopher Guest.

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• Tags: Arrested Development movie, Jason Bateman, The Baster, The Invention of Lying

Courtesy of BizBash.com, a round-up of some of the celebs attending the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday. Who do you think landed the coolest guests? Gotta love TV faves like Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Ed Westwick (Gossip Girl) and Glenn Close (Damages), not to mention NBC’s line-up of cool cats Colin Firth, Denis Leary, Jason Bateman and Samuel L. Jackson, but I have to give it to the New York Daily News for choosing Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who’s responsible for what remains the best feel-good story of the year so far.

– BBC: Sir Howard Stringer, Kristi Yamaguchi, Ellen Burstyn and Phil Gordon

– Fox News: Chace Crawford, Todd Palin, Matthew Modine, Greta Van Susteren, Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck, Bret Baier and Chris Wallace

– National Music Publishers’ Association: Kara DioGuardi

– CNN: Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Val Kilmer, Kyra Sedgwick, Brad Cooper and Tyra Banks

– ABC News: Jon and Dorothea Bon Jovi, Kate Walsh, Taye Diggs and Idina Menzel

– New York Daily News: Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger

– Fortune: George Lucas and Glenn Close

– People: Sting and Trudie Styler, Miranda Cosgrove, Kevin Bacon, Forest Whitaker, Jon Hamm, Eva Longoria Parker, Ludacris and Brooke Shields

– Glamour: Narciso Rodriguez, Alicia Keys, Kenneth Cole and Kerry Washington

– USA Today: Tim Daly, Justin Long and Richard Belzer

– Atlantic Magazine: Ed Westwick

– Newsweek: Natalie Portman and Owen Wilson

– NBC: Colin Firth, Jimmy Fallon, Mariska Hargitay, Mike Myers, William H. Macy, Jason Bateman, Natasha Bedingfeld, Connie Britton, Kyle Chandler, John Cusack, Ari Emanuel, Whoopi Goldberg, Felicity Huffman, Samuel L. Jackson, Denis Leary, B.J. Novak, Brian Williams, David Gregory, Al Roker, Ann Curry, Luke Russert, Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann and Jim Cramer

– CBS: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Brad Hall, Colin Powell, Bob Schieffer and Brad Paisley

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• Tags: Brooke Shields, Chace Crawford, Chesley Sully Sullenberger, Colin Firth, Damges, Denis Leary, Ed Westwick, Gossip Girl, Jason Bateman, Jimmy Fallon, Jon Hamm, Mad Men, Whoopi Goldberg