Crossdressers-Haven.com

The pilot made it to youtube in 8 parts. Looked pretty good to me. Some of the gals on MHB are fighting over its worthyness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amianBtvZ2E

"Pretty/Handsome" seemed to have all the required elements for a buzzworthy pilot: Respected creator (Ryan Murphy), well-known star (Joseph Fiennes) and provocative premise (man decides to undergo a sex change).

None of those things, however, have been able to save it. The show appears to be dead after failing to find a TV home, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

"Pretty/Handsome" was initially set up at FX, where Murphy's "Nip/Tuck" has been a strong performer for five seasons. Fiennes ("Shakespeare in Love," "Running with Scissors") was set to play a married man who breaks the news to his wife and kids that he wants a sex change. The cast also included Carrie-Anne Moss, Blythe Danner and Robert Wagner.

Murphy wrote the script with fellow "Nip/Tuck" scribe Brad Falchuk and also directed the pilot. Brad Pitt was an executive producer through his company, Plan B Entertainment.

FX, however, decided to pass on the pilot in the spring, the HR says. Producer 20th Century Fox tried to sell the show elsewhere, but those efforts have come up empty.

Thanks for the link Donna. I like the comment the son said at the end of part 8. I wouldn't mind seeing them air more episodes.

Danette

I agree. Would like to see more episodes. I'm wondering if the corporate/network executives felt this was just too edgy for the mass audience.
Please let us know if this gets continued.
I personally have not met too many F to M transsexuals, but the situation depicted here does go along with articles I have read. The actress playing that part was fantastic!
Peace-- Kendra Lynn ("hippie cheerleader").

I like it. Joseph Fiennes and Carrie Anne Moss have the right bit of chemistry to pull it off. I just don't see it playing for an American audience. If it had run first on French TV or the Beebs, and gotten raves, it might fly over here. Not right out of the gate, though. If they had shopped it to HBO or Showtime, it might've worked, but I think it's a little high-concept for FX, though they have done some edgy stuff the last couple of years.

It's a real shame that this doesn't look like it's going to get picked up. Not that I'm exactly surprised, mind you. The pilot production is first-rate and I don't doubt that it would attract a following, but ...

I can definitely see the potential for outrage and organized boycotts of advertisers, not just for the show but for the network as a whole. Until these kinds of activities are recognized as the hate crimes they are, it's hard to see something like this making good business sense.

As a purely artistic statement I would imagine the people who feel most passionately about the project within a network have their own secrets to hide. The people it resonates with the most are the people who probably feel they shouldn't come out too strongly in favor of it for fear of giving themselves away.

I would so love to be wrong on both fronts. If this makes it onto one network or another it would definitely become "must see TV" in our household. Heck, I'd buy episodes on iTunes if they wanted to try something completely new. That might be the best way to reach their core audience, but I have no idea if it's financially viable and it would be a shame to lose the potential to expose a broader slice of society.