‘Spider and Son’ was the working name of a TV series that was to be based upon Anthony’s earlier life in 1970s LA with his father, Blackie Dammett, who was to collaborate with his son on the project.

Transcript: Anthony Kiedis peppers his resume with a new TV venture… If the 2004 autobiography Scar Tissue didn’t give fans enough insight into the troubled childhood that led to Anthony Kiedis’ successful rock career as the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ frontman, maybe a TV series will. HBO has announced that it’s developing a new show about Kiedis’ wild youth as the son of an alleged drug dealer named Spider; all set against the backdrop of L.A.’s seedy rock & roll culture in the ‘70s. “I think it will make for an interesting TV show, “says Kiedis. “I’ve already shed my tears and yelled. The painful part is all behind me. Now it is fun. It is a project I get to do with my father later in his life- when he is ready to reflect.” Of course, give the risqué subject matter, there was only one place for him to pursue making the project a reality. “It had to be cable because there are some very adult themes, and there was definitely naked women and profanity.” (The series is tentatively titled Scar Tissue, but is not based on the book. There are also no plans to address Kiedis’ adult life as a rock star.) Since HBO “wants it sooner rather than later,” Kiedis says his first goal is to find a writer “who is capable of speaking the truth about life during that time and the nature of the father-son relationship.” Kiedis hopes to narrate the show and also plans to use his connections to recruit fellow musicians for guest-starring gigs. “Most of the ones involved [in my past] couldn’t play themselves now because so many years have passed. I can’t even play myself. But I guarantee it will have one of the best soundtracks on TV.”

The series was originally scheduled for HBO and was being written by John Sayles with a rough broadcast date of late 2010. The pilot script was written and delivered (confirmed by Blackie on his Facebook page) but nothing further developed from it at the time.

In October, 2011, there were reports on a couple of websites e.g. The Hollywood Reporter that the series had been transferred to FX who were planning to develop it through FX productions and Catapult 360, and that John Sayles had probably been dropped as the writer.

When asked on Facebook, Blackie thought the series would be pushed back until 2013 as RHCP were touring and Anthony was too busy to pursue the project further at that point:

Transcript: Blackie Dammett: Looks like it will be postponed until the tour is finished sometime in 2013.

However, nothing further was ever heard about the series and it is now presumed to have been abandoned and lost to the annals of time. A positive though was that sorting out material for the show was one of the reasons why Blackie began to write his autobiography, ‘Lords of the Sunset Strip‘ (published in book form in 2013; it had previously been self-published as an electronic version).