CBS, David Mamet Developing 'Have Gun - Will Travel' Reboot

Slashfilm posted Mamet’s 2010 all-caps memo to writers of CBS’ doomed “The Unit,” razzing execs as “OUR FRIENDS, THE PENGUINS” and saying, “ANY TIME TWO CHARACTERS ARE TALKING ABOUT A THIRD, THE SCENE IS A CROCK OF SHIT. … DO NOT WRITE A CROCK OF SHIT.”

The network has made a script deal for the CBS TV Studios-produced Western, which originally aired on CBS from 1957-63.

CBS is looking to reboot Have Gun - Will Travel with two-time Oscar-nominated writer David Mamet at the helm.

The network has made a script deal for the CBS TV Studios-produced Western, which originally aired on CBS from 1957-63. During its six-season run, the drama starring Richard Boone as Paladin not only delivered top-five ratings but also spawned a successful radio show.

If ultimately ordered to series, Have Gun could join Vegas, an upcoming Western starring Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis, on CBS' schedule. The genre generated heat last year at this time, with many of the broadcast network developing such projects as NBC's The Frontier and Fox's Wyatt Earp effort.

Mamet will serve as writer and executive producer on the project, alongside non-writing EP Elliott Webb. If the pilot is ordered, Mamet also would direct.

This marks a reunion for the network and Mamet, who served as a writer and executive producer on CBS' The Unit. Still, he is better known for his books, films and theater productions. He earned adapted screenplay Oscar nominations for The Verdict (1982) and Wag the Dog (1997) and won a Pulitzer Prize for his 1984 play Glengarry Glen Ross, which he later adapted for the big screen.

Mamet is repped by ICM and Weissmann Wolff.

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