Rivers Cuomo-Based Sitcom Not Moving Forward

Bummer news for anyone who was kind of excited to see the life of Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo get the sitcom treatment on the small screen; the show’s not moving forward.

During an interview with Vulture, the singer was asked about the status of the show. Sadly, Cuomo broke the news that the show, which was titled DeTour, was not moving forward at FOX.

“DeTour did not get picked up. So that whole chapter is closed,” begins Cuomo.

“It’s weird; in music if you make an album and your label decides not to put it out, you can bring it to another label and sometimes it can be a big success. At least it gets out. In TV, I’ve learned, it’s not like that. The pilot was made, completely finished, and we can’t show it to anybody! No one will ever see it. It’s a huge waste of money.”

Back in January, it was reported by both Variety and Deadline that the show had been picked up by FOX for at least its pilot. While the entertainment publications had claimed it was official, there was never any real confirmation from Cuomo or series creator, Steve Franks of Psych fame.

The initial synopsis for the show stated that it would be about “a 30-something rock star who, unable to rationalize his success and worried that he may not have the tools to repeat it, walks away from the spotlight at the height of his fame in an effort to rediscover the parts of his life he missed while he was busy becoming a massive success.”

The show was going to reportedly star Olivia Thirlby, Peter Gallagher, and British actor Ben Aldridge as Michael Sturges, the character based off of Cuomo.

While the show may not have received the green light from FOX, there are many other avenues Franks and Cuomo could seek out, if they choose to move forward on their own.

Netflix anyone?

Rivers Cuomo’s College “Life Story” to Become Comedy at FOX

UPDATE (Jan. 29, 2015):

It has now been about five months since this story was last updated and now we have confirmation that FOX will officially pick up DeTour, the comedy based on the life of Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo when he decided to leave the band to go back to college.

At the moment neither Cuomo or series creator Steve Franks have confirmed the news, but several entertainment website have already written that the series, or at least the pilot has been picked up. Variety and Deadline broke the news. 

No word on when the pilot episode will air or even if it has been filmed yet.

Time to keep our ear (or eyes) to the wonderful world of Twitter.

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UPDATE (Aug. 28, 2014):

With the excitement of maybe seeing Rivers Cuomo’s life on the small screen, the Weezer frontman has gone online to try to clarify things for confused fans.

I think someone from FOX jumped the gun w/their press release. From what I understand, a "put pilot" means they *might* make a pilot.

— Rivers Coumo (@RiversCuomo) August 28, 2014

Pretty much every show makes a pilot before it goes on the air. Only 1 in 100 goes on 2 become a regular show.

— Rivers Coumo (@RiversCuomo) August 28, 2014

I'll let u know if it gets more serious:)

— Rivers Coumo (@RiversCuomo) August 28, 2014

In a way, we are behind this somewhat biographical show. Come on, who needs another dumb reality show about stupid people trying to make a “love connection” or trying to win money by doing dumb things. Just go outside, you can see that for free.

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Weezer Wednesday might have been yesterday, but today we’ve gotten some interesting news about frontman Rivers Cuomo on this Thursday. It appears that the singer is set to star in a TV sitcom about his life.

According to Deadline, FOX has funded a pilot for a single-camera comedy titled DeTour which is inspired by Cuomo’s life.

The show will be written by Psych creator, Steve Franks and Tagline Television’s Chris Haze who also worked on the hit USA Network’s psychic-detective comedy series which wrapped up earlier this year.

The story will center around a 30-something rock star who is worried about the success of his music career and his decision to walk away from it all to focus on all the things he missed while being on tour and working on being famous.

The story will reportedly also include many real life events from Cuomo’s personal life including his on and off attendance at Harvard University between 1995 and 2006.

For those that do not remember, Cuomo went on break from the band eight years or so ago to return to Harvard full-time to complete his bachelor of arts in English.

Taking inspiration from his time at Harvard, the series will embellish on his experience which included living in the dorms and handing out with the students. The series will reportedly give him a small group of misfits for friends.

But, don’t think Cuomo is going to become a television star all of a sudden and leave Weezer behind. The band have their anticipated new album coming out soon, even if it was pushed back a week. Everything Will Be Alright in the End will now be released on October 7 while fans that pre-ordered the record will get two new tracks from the record on its former release date.

In honor of Weezer Wednesday, the band another sneak peek at a new track titled, “Go Away.” The song features the vocals of Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino, so check that out.

Watch Rivers Cuomo Talk About Receiving Fan Mail Intended for Brandon Boyd

We all know that musicians get a lot of things from fans showing their appreciation for the musician and the world they create with words, but sometimes those gifts get really creepy and weird. And sometimes, the things that you get in the mail from fans isn’t even for you.

For Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo, that’s exactly what’s happened, several times.

In a recent interview with Larry King on his web-series, Larry King Now, Cuomo admits he has received some fan mail, just not addressed to him, but for Incubus frontman, Brandon Boyd.

“I get these elongated fan packages, only they’re not for me, they’re for the singer of Incubus, Brandon Boyd,” he explained to the host.

The funniest part of this whole story, is when Cuomo reveals that he’s received Boyd’s fan mail at not one, but at two different home addresses.

“I didn’t even froward it to Brandon, I should though,” Cuomo jokingly told King at the end.

For those thinking that it’s the most random question to be asked, it turns out that Cuomo revealed this weird tid-bit during a Reddit AMA session last month.

Check out the video here, and if you’re that creepy fan, I think if you added a not for Rivers to send it to Brandon, he might, unless that was your plan all along.