Tradecraft: Cinemax's Hunted Continuation Takes Shape

We heard last November that the hit Cinemax/BBC spy series Hunted (a hit on Cinemax, that is, but not on the Beeb), would return to the U.S. cable network in a slightly different format after being formally cancelled in Britain by BBC One. In March, it looked like that new format would be a series of 2-hour TV movies. Now it looks like Melissa George's tough spy-for-hire character will instead live on in an eponymous spinoff series entitled Sam Hunter. Deadline reports that "Cinemax is planning to launch Sam Hunter as a four-hour miniseries," with Hunted creator Frank Spotnitz (Strike Back) and UK company Kudos (MI-5/Spooks) remaining on board as producers. "Doing the new series by itself," the trade blog reports, "would give Cinemax greater creative control and allow ... Spotnitz to push the boundaries on storytelling, tailoring the show to a pay cable network [meaning Cinemax] vs. a public broadcaster [meaning BBC]." I think what all that translates to is roughly "more nudity." (That seems to be Cinemax's hallmark.) Hunted earned weak reviews in the UK, but strong ones in the U.S. I don't get Cinemax, so I didn't see it when it aired. I'd been waiting and waiting for a Region 1 DVD release (which finally looks set to happen next month, but as an expensive MOD title from Warner Archive), but finally broke down and imported the R2 discs. I've only watched the pilot so far, but from that I find myself siding with my countrymen; I'm hooked! And I'm glad that there will be more Sam Hunter on the horizon.