Micronesian Blues image via MicronesianBlues.com.

Deadline reports Cinemax has ordered the Micronesian Blues TV show from Banshee‘s Jonathan Tropper and Greg Yaitanes, along with Patrick Dempsey, who exited ABC‘s Grey’s Anatomy after 11 seasons. Banshee, which Tropper co-created with David Schickler, recently ended after four seasons on the premium cable channel.

Tropper is writing the Micronesian Blues “crime drama thriller,” which will be directed by Yaitanes. They are executive producing with Dempsey and his producing partner and manager, Joannie Burstein. Justin Franklin is co-producing. The Micronesian Blues TV series is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Bryan Vila and Cynthia Morris (pictured above).

Here is how Amazon describes the book:

His plane nearly crashed, the cops he’d been hired to train almost killed him, and he ingested a substance that bore a close resemblance to elephant snot—all during his first two days on the job…

Micronesian Blues tells the true story of former L.A. street cop Bryan Vila’s hilarious road to cross-cultural enlightenment as a police chief in the far Pacific islands of Micronesia.

Through lively narrative laced with wry humor, it chronicles his adventures and misadventures on Saipan, Ponape (now Pohnpei), Truk (now Chuuk), Palau, Yap, Kosrae, and Kwajalein.

Trial and error was the name of the game in this dubious paradise, where Bryan had to learn the rules—or make them up—as he went. Yet he embraced island life, succeeded in his new role, and ultimately found himself profoundly changed by his experiences in Micronesia and the lessons he learned there.

Here is more on Cinemax’s Micronesian Blues TV show, from Deadline:

Micronesian Blues, written by Tropper and to be directed by Yaitanes, is based on the true story of Los Angeles cop Bryan Vila, a former Marine who had served in Vietnam, who took a job training local police in Micronesia in the early 1990s, expecting a paid vacation. The series tells the story of a burned out LA cop who accepts a teaching job in Micronesia, only to find himself caught up in a bloody war between tribal gangsters, lawless mercenaries, and crooked CIA agents.

Tropper and Yaitanes will executive produce alongside Dempsey and his producing partner/manager Joannie Burstein through the actor’s Shifting Gears Productions. The company’s Justin Franklin will co-produce.

 

Micronesian Blues image via MicronesianBlues.com.

What do you think? Have you read the book? Who would you cast in the Micronesian Blues TV series?