Duchovny to produce "Two" hoops series
By  John Dempsey

NEW YORK (Variety) - David Duchovny, a basketball junkie, will make showbiz hay out of his obsession by producing "Two on Two," a half-hour primetime reality series for cable's TNN.

The network has commissioned Duchovny's production company Toy Plane Industries to put the finishing touches on the concept, whose premise is that two young men with basketball skills start in New York City and work their way across the U.S. by elbowing their way into pickup basketball games.

The men would be encouraged to play hard because they'd earn their travel and living expenses by placing bets on the games. Duchovny will serve as an executive producer.

In addition to the drama of close games, TNN general manager Diane Robina said, "We hope the show will play up the humor of the situation, along the lines of the movie "White Men Can't Jump."

The beauty of "Two on Two" for Robina is that the series will appeal to the young male viewership that has transformed TNN in the last year from an older-skewing, predominantly rural network in primetime to the youngest-skewing of all of the general-entertainment cable networks.

Reuters/Variety REUTERS