Tradecraft: Fox Leaves The Station Out In The Cold

Of all the many, many spy shows in the works for next season, the one I was most curious about won't be making it to the air.  Deadline is reporting that Ben Stiller's CIA comedy The Station (which had been in development since last summer) is now officially dead. According to the trade blog, Stiller tweeted the news tonight. "I like to produce a failed pilot for Fox about once every ten years," he wrote. "Latest was the Station. Written directed and acted by a great group." The premise was sort of The Office in the CIA, which sounded cool to me.  As previously reported, the show would have revolved around a group of lackluster CIA operatives at a covert South American outpost, where they're charged with installing a new dictator. John Goodman was set to play the gruff station chief, and Justin Bartha would have been our Jim or Tim-like Everyman lead.  The State's David Wain (Role Models) directed the pilot.  It's possible that that could still turn up.  In this day and age, unaired pilots are sometimes made available as video on demand.