FX has extended its relationship with Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy by buying a pilot of his new series.  Originally, the show was entitled 4 Oz. and had been pitched as a story of a married sportswriter with children who discovers that he is actually a transsexual.  However, a representative from the cable network told The Washington Post's The TV Column that the name has been scrapped and that the show now involves a married gynecologist who shares a practice with his father.

FX has insisted that the change in the show's premise has nothing to do with LA Times Sportswriter Christine Daniels, who, prior to undergoing sexual reassignment surgery, was known as Mike Penner and was married to a fellow sportswriter.  Moreover, the FX representative said that the changes were made even before Daniels' publicly announced her transformation.

Murphy announced the idea for his series last year, telling Variety that the title 4 Oz. refers to the average weight of a penis.  However, Dr. Harold M. Reed, a Florida-Based sexual reassignment surgeon, said that the number is inaccurate, and that in reality, the male organ weighs even less.

Murphy also told Variety last year that he had already planned a five-season arc that will also involve the transgender's teenage sons.

"The first season deals with the revelation of his secret," Murphy said.  "In the second season, he begins dressing like a woman.  The third covers the surgery, and his inherent doubts about going through with it, and by the fourth season, he's living as a woman and attempting to find love.”

Murphy wrote the pilot episode for the series, which is currently being called The Untitled Ryan Murphy Project, with Brad Falchuk, a writer and producer on Nip/Tuck.  Murphy will helm the pilot, as well as executive-produce with Brad Pitt and Dede Gardner.

The subject of transsexualism has also been explored in Murphy's Nip/Tuck.  For instance, Famke Jannsen portrayed Ava Moore, a therapist who was once a man, during the second season.


-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: The Washington Post
(Image Courtesy of IF Magazine)