TV Crossbones

This Friday, the drama Crossbones will wash ashore on NBC, anchored by a truly stellar performance from the Emmy-winning thesp John Malkovich as the legendary Blackbeard. Chance are you’ll spend the entirety of the show like I did, wishing that the entire story was dedicated to Blackbeard talking to himself in a mirror.

The Summer TV season is upon us. With new shows like Extant, Rush and Tyrant -- among others -- joining the lineup, and returning series like True Blood, Doctor Who, Under the Dome, Defiance and Graceland lined up, TV has plenty to offer us this summer.

After watching the dynamic trailer above for NBC’s upcoming adventure drama Crossbones, it’s obvious that my bucket list has been sorely missing the entry “watching John Malkovich play Blackbeard the pirate,” and is in need of an immediate amending. Thankfully, I’ll only have to wait a little longer than a month to catch the Oscar-nominated actor in a most legendary turn as one of history’s most notorious villains.

As of last fall, it was looking like House's Hugh Laurie might be playing the famous pirate Blackbeard in NBC's planned drama series Crossbones. There's a major update on that front, and the bad news is, Laurie isn't starring. The series is still happening, but John Malkovich will be playing the lead. Word that Malkovich is climbing aboard this series certainly takes the sting out of the Laurie news, doesn't it?

Dr. House could be coming back to television in a very different – although perhaps equally unpleasant – role. Word is that House star Hugh Laurie is close to a deal to star as the famous pirate Blackbeard in in the NBC series Crossbones.

It’s a pirate’s life for NBC; the network has given out another straight-to-series order today. Crossbones, based on the book The Republic of Pirates will go right to series production with a 10-episode order of the show that centers on one of history’s most famous pirate captains, Blackbeard himself.