Arnold to costar in 'Pump' -- Showtime drama

[GDavis]

Arnold Schwarzenegger is returning to his roots.

The former bodybuilder-turned-California governor has sold a drama to Showtime that hits particularly close to home. The project, titled Pump, traces the origin of the present-day fitness industry and culture of body worship to a single 1,000-square-foot concrete room on Pacific Avenue: a gym called Pump.

The hour-long drama effort, which is set in early 1970s Venice Beach, Calif., will be written and executive produced by Michael Konyves (Barney’s Version,The Last Knight), with The Tannenbaum Co.'s Eric and Kim Tannenbaum (Two and a Half Men) and Schwarzenegger attached as exec producers. If ultimately ordered to series, Schwarzenegger intends to recur.

Konyves, who had a deal at the CBS TV Studios-based Tannenbaum Co., initially brought the idea to the Tannenbaums. "We loved it, but I said the only way you can really tell this story is if we can get Arnold involved," recalls Eric Tannenbaum, adding: "The birth of the fitness/bodybuilding revolution can literally be traced back to the days when Arnold arrived in the U.S." Tannenbaum reached out to CAA, which reps him as well as the former governor, and set up a meeting. Schwarzenegger signed on and began sharing stories of his past.

The project, which was pitched exclusively to Showtime, comes less than a year after Schwarzenegger reflected on his own bodybuilding past in an ESPN 30 for 30 short film titled Arnold’s Blueprint. The latter focused on his teen years in the Austrian Army, where he began the bodybuilding career that flourished at Gold's Gym in Venice and would ultimately lead to his stardom.

Following his political tenure, Schwarzenegger has returned to Hollywood in a significant way. In addition to publishing a memoir, Total Recall, he has starred in both Expendables 2and The Last Stand and has action thriller Escape Plan opposite Sylvester Stallone forthcoming.

Schwarzenegger is repped by CAA and Bloom Hergott; The Tannenbaum Co. is repped by CAA and Del Shaw; Konyves is repped by Industry Entertainment and Stone Meyer.

[GDavis]

[Prince]

sweet!

[Curt James]

Might have to subscribe to cable again.

[Keith Allen]

That's awesome. I'm glad I'll be switching cable providers soon. Time Warner dropped Showtime.

[babygorilla]

fuck time warner!!

[Baldiewonkanobi]

They will need to alter history if this is to sell. Face it men, if it were not for the ladies with Bikini, Fitness and their Physique Div. at the BB shows there would be very few shows. RX survives on our ladies. BB.com would be 40% of its size. The franchise gyms would be few and far between. "Birth/origin of present day fitness" to the TV audience of today means over 50% female involvment.

If they are true to the day will your lady, daughter or the women at you gym be interested in this show?

No females...well maybe one?
No womens room/shower. Yes...they had to share if they dare show up.
Lots of explitives....."come on you fucking pussy".
Testosterone stench.
Ball scratching.
No tops half the time.
No mandantory towel.
Lots of mirror flexing.
Some mara ja wanna in the parking lot.

And one hellava training atmosphere. I for one will love it if its true to form. If not, I will tune out.

If its 1972 Planet Fitness it will sell....unfortunatly.

Baldie

[Curt James]

More...

TV NEWS

With Showtime's Pump, Schwarzenegger's Comeback Enters the Premium Cable Phase

By Amos Barshad on May 29, 2013

Here's a big, juicy, vein-rippling surprise for you: THR reports that Arnold Schwarzenegger has sold a series to Showtime. About bodybuilding. That he himself would costar on. Interesting!

According to THR, Pump — an hourlong drama set in 1970s Venice Beach — "traces the origin of the present-day fitness industry and culture of body worship to a single 1,000-square-foot concrete room on Pacific Avenue: a gym called Pump." The origins of the project, however, trace back to Michael Konyves, the writer of 2010 Paul Giamatti indie Barney's Version and upcoming period-action Clive Owen/Morgan Freeman joint The Last Knights. Konyves pitched Pump to producer Eric Tannenbaum, who responded thus: "We loved it, but I said the only way you can really tell this story is if we can get Arnold involved … The birth of the fitness/bodybuilding revolution can literally be traced back to the days when Arnold arrived in the U.S." Shout-out to Eric Tannebaum for having the chutzpah to see if Arnie would be down to do TV. Shout-out to Eric Tannebaum for using the word "literally" correctly.

As THR points out, Schwarzenegger most recently reflected on his bodybuilding background in Grantland's own 30 for 30 short The Blueprint. Pump, however, will bump up the time frame, from our man's Austrian upbringing to his American stardom beginnings. Apparently, he's already sat down with the Pump team and swapped tales of his early days in Cali. As for what role he'll be playing on the show — well, that's TBD. All they're saying now is, if Pump is picked up, Arnold will recur.

Two ways you can look at this: (1) Arnold Schwarzenegger was lured into premium cable with the promise of a well-crafted program that fits snugly within his branding, or (2) Arnold Schwarzenegger is trying anything and everything — including attempting to traffic on his long-abandoned bodybuilding bona fides — to get this post-governorship/love-child comeback popping. Supporting the latter is the fact that Arnold's got all manner of nostalgia-boosting projects on hand as well. He's doing another Conan, he did Expendables 2, and he's even got another action project in the works with fellow deflated '80s icon Sylvester Stallone. Is that playing to what works? Or is it, you know, your regular run-of-the-mill desperation? Really, though, who cares? If Pump fulfills this early promise, the motivations as to how it came about are irrelevant.

Also of note: Son-of-Arnold Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has his own premium cable project in the works with HBO. And while its subject matter — "the lives of retired athletes" in Miami — doesn't technically overlap, you can't help but feeling the milieus will mingle.

Oh, and then there's also Derek Cianfrance’s HBO project, Muscle, an adaptation of Sam Fussell's memoir about "an Oxford graduate who moves to New York City, and in order to protect himself, spends four years fully consumed in the world of bodybuilding." SPOILER ALERT: It doesn't end well.

Anyway — let the golden era of super-jacked dudes on premium cable begin!

From http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollyw...um-cable-phase

Fussell's book was awesome. A fantastic read!

[Baldiewonkanobi]

Curt Curt Curt...."Fussell's book was an awsome read".

Please say that's a quote.... I knew Fussell, he trained at Brignol's Pasadena Gym in the 80s. The book is entirely fantasy/fiction. He used everyone around him at the gym from training with them, eating with them, and sucking up every bit of training and AAS info he could. He was good at that. Even I got caught up in his fantasy. He failed at his attempt to be a noteworthy Bodybuilder so he flipped his experience and claimed to be an outsider looking in.
Please let this TV adaption fail, please.

Baldie

[Curt James]

Curt Curt Curt...."Fussell's book was an awsome read".

Please say that's a quote.... I knew Fussell, he trained at Brignol's Pasadena Gym in the 80s. The book is entirely fantasy/fiction. He used everyone around him at the gym from training with them, eating with them, and sucking up every bit of training and AAS info he could. He was good at that. Even I got caught up in his fantasy. He failed at his attempt to be a noteworthy Bodybuilder so he flipped his experience and claimed to be an outsider looking in.
Please let this TV adaption fail, please.

Baldie

I trust he was a jerk to the nth degree, good sir, but — fact or fiction — it still made for one hell of a read! Very entertaining.

[John Hansen]

Derek Cianfrance is a very gifted director but he's also pretty dark. "The Place Beyond the Pines" was one of the best movies of this year and Cianfrance obviously has a lot of talent. I have a feeling the movie is not going to help out bodybuilding's image though

[knockout ted]

I've really liked the two flicks I've seen of Cianfrance. Blue Valentine was also a gritty realistic portrayal of the evolution of a relationship. I thinks he will do the same with "Muscle"; it will be a realistic view of the life of a person consumed with the bodybuilding culture. He's great at telling a story and developing his characters in a 2-3 hour movie, so I can only imagine what he can do with an HBO TV series. But I agree, it's probably going to focus on the negative aspects of the life of a bodybuilder.

[Hit-Girl]

[rcp1936]

I am 77 and started using weight training back in 1954 when weight training was far from mainstream
I remember eagerly going to the movies to see Steve Reeves in Athena
What a letdown --Lucky if he was in the movie 2 minutes
But then came Hercules where he was the lead ( later Reg Park)
But Reeves had to lose weight down to about 185 because "The public wasn't ready for the real thing"
Then there was the Tarzan movies with a full sized BBer

And at that time Bob Hoffman was pushing for weight training for all athletes and general conditioning and heath for the general public
Back in 55 I tried to convince the discus thrower on my College track team to use weights and he laughed at me . I told him that Bob Hoffman predicted within 15-20 years most major athletes would be using them --He laughed even more --Well we all know how that turned out
Bob Hoffman doesn't get near the credit he deserves
He tried to feature as many athletes using weights as he could to further his beliefs
I remember Mal Whitfield--Parry O'brien--Stan Jones--Fortune Gordien--Bob Richards--
Don Bragg and others being show cased in S&H

As an observation about fitness in general --I have never seen so many lard butts and out of shape types walking the malls and streets and conversely I have never seen so many in shape looking great people walking jogging and training at LA Fitness especially the very large number of females
The aerobics class at LA Fitness where I train is going on when I arrive and still at it when I leave about an hour later and the spinners and machines are always going strong

I am amazed thinking back an my early years in a cinder block converter garage with about 6 of my friends and seeing what is prevalent today
Back then in the 3rd largest city in the country Philly there were TWO commercial Gyms in the entire city
Fritsches and Boodleys ( can't be sure of the spelling ) and several YMCAs

Saw the 56 Mr America at the Palestra in Philly
It was like New Years Christmas etc all rolled into one for the die hards in the area

To me the time after the war to 1960 was the real Golden Era for Sports ( including BBing)
IMHO steroids were the beginning of the end of real weight training
Yeah Yeah I know back in the 60s 70s they only used a limited amount
As if it was going to stay that way
They are a plague on sports and I include BBing as a sport

[Curt James]

^^^^ Definitely value your perspective. Grew up reading Lou Gehrig's biography and then years later Rocky Bleier's story.

For better or worse, though, the world has moved on.