‘Nash Bridges’ Revival Starring Don Johnson Coming to USA Network

Eighteen years after CBS aired its final episode of Nash Bridges, Don Johnson is heading back to San Francisco. The series is set for a revival in the shape of a two-hour TV special on USA Network, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Sources note that while the project is in its early stages, IP owner Village Roadshow is hopeful that the special will serve as a back-door pilot for some sort of larger drama series.

USA Network did not comment on the report.

Johnson will reprise his role running San Francisco’s Special Investigation Unit circa 2020, where he’s “confronting a changing city, a new boss and a world in which police work focuses on modern data-crunching and predictive policing. Although the world around him has changed, Nash hasn’t.”

Bill Chais (The Practice, Shark, Franklin and Bash, Bull) and Johnson will co-create the two-hour special, with Johnson, Chais and Marc Rosen (Sense8) executive producing. Johnson is currently the only cast member attached; it’s unclear if any other former stars, like Cheech Marin, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe or Jeff Perry, will return.

Series creator Carlton Cuse is not attached to the revival, although he did reunite last year with his former all-star team of writers and producers at the ATX Television Festival to share the origins of the series. At the time, Cuse said that former CBS boss Les Moonves had signed off on a talent deal with Johnson and had approached Cuse to create a series for the Miami Vice alum — with the result being Nash Bridges. Cuse currently has an overall deal with Disney-owned ABC Studios.

THR reports that Village Roadshow plans on mining its content library and reimagining titles, starting with Nash Bridges. It’s a popular strategy among media companies who are looking to inject well-known content into the cluttered landscape.

USA Network will say farewell to a pair of its hit shows this year, with both Suits and Mr. Robot ending their respective runs. The network’s scripted roster will now include the Suits spinoff Pearson, Queen of the South, Bourne spinoff Treadstone, anthology The Sinner, Briarpatch, Dare Me, Brave New World and Bravo import Dirty John.