Is There Life On (VERONICA) MARS?

Beaks here... I was a huge fan of VERONICA MARS before The CW sabotaged the show during its third season (by cutting its show order and forcing an on-the-fly restructuring of several story arcs). Created by Rob Thomas, it was a very slick conflation of high school dramas and detective series - kind of like 90210 crossed with THE ROCKFORD FILES (very sexy, but with fewer visits to the Malibu Pier). I'm still not sure why it failed to find a huge audience (Kristen Bell was adorable in the title role, and Enrico Colantoni was terrific as her PI father), but, as Joss Whedon demonstrated with SERENITY, abject failure in the ratings is hardly the end. That said, we're a long way from any kind of beginning. The EW headline that has tongues wagging today reads "Bell, Thomas Orbit VERONICA MARS Movie", which is a little like saying "Scott, Weaver Orbit ALIEN Sequel". Though it's technically true that both parties have "talked" about these ventures to some extent, in terms of becoming a reality... they're incredibly far off. Obviously, Thomas and Bell are a little more serious about VERONICA MARS (I guess), but when your story's money quote begins "Kristen and I ran into each other...", it's hard to get worked up (especially when the ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT continue to taunt fans with a big-screen reunion every other week). Then there's this:

"It's very tough to focus on it right now with two pilots on my plate," adds Thomas, referring to his two ABC projects, a reworking of his '90s dramedy Cupid and an adaptation of the New Zealand series Outrageous Fortune. "But as soon as I have any free time, that's my top priority."

Hard chargers like Thomas don't know the concept of "free time". I mean, if this latest incarnation of CUPID goes south like the other one did (which would be unfortunate, since I really liked the Jeremy Piven version), maybe he'll be able to bump MARS up on his cluttered queue. But then what? Unless Bell opens WHEN IN ROME to $20 million-plus in 2009, I can't imagine Warner Brothers would be eager to pony up a halfway decent budget for a cult show that's been off the air for several years (especially after Fox's experience with THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE). Much as I'd love to see Thomas and Bell pull this off, I just can't get my hopes up.