When not doing his best Rahm Emanuel impression on The Good Wife or cutting an elegant figure on the red carpet, Alan Cumming has been trying to get a dark-comedy project out of development hell. The actor originally pitched his Florent show, about restaurateur Florent Morellet, to Sundance Channel, but production stalled. Now Deadline reports that Showtime has just ordered a pilot for the show inspired by the life story of Morellet, who helped start the trend of overpriced eateries in the Meatpacking District.
Cumming will star as Morellet, who established The Florent restaurant in ’80s New York, which sounds like it was basically the Studio 54 of French diners. Per Deadline, the show will explore “the light and dark of that time, as well as the craziness of a place that become a destination for everyone from NY’s literati to the neighborhood hookers and hustlers, the NYPD, and the burgeoning LGBT community.” The events will be viewed through the eyes of Cumming’s restaurateur and AIDS activist, who had to close up shop after rents in the neighborhood increased dramatically.