Secure for the moment in its amassing of appropriately hip novels, HBO has now moved on to another important aspect of any well-rounded, quietly superior intellectual’s life—listening to public radio, a pastime that's led the network to begin developing a series with Ira Glass. Variety reports that Glass, Owen Wilson, and Veronica Mars/Party Down creator Rob Thomas have teamed up to executive produce a fictionalized take on the 2010 This American Life segment “Midlife Cowboy,” the true story of James Spring, a former meth smuggler who settled into a quieter life as an advertising copywriter, then sought adventure at the age of 40 by attempting to rescue two girls kidnapped by Mexican drug traffickers. The ensuing media coverage of his quest led to Spring becoming a missing persons investigator, suggesting the TV version of his life could be a sort of Bored To Death by way of Breaking Bad, with the breezy, ironically detached sense of humor that an Ira Glass/Owen Wilson/Rob Thomas triad suggests. Anyway, expect an imminent announcement of HBO’s new series about bringing your own canvas tote to Whole Foods.
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