The current issue of Entertainment Weekly (May 31, 2002) contains the following:
If all else fails, blame the Church. That’s what Sylvester Stallonedid when CBS didn’t pick up Lefty, the television drama he exec-produced starring Titanic‘s Danny Nucci as a tough-talking priest. Stallone believes the Catholic Church’s current troubles led the Eye to pass on the pilot. “Danny was fantastic,” says Stallone. “And to come out with a show about priests at this particular time… I think people are waiting for something to help them exhale.” Stallone‘s the one who needs to take a breather, says one source close close to the negotiations. It wasn’t the preist-pedophilia scandal but Lefty‘s soft, Touched by an Angelsensibility that prompted CBS to reject it in favor of the sharper fare like Without a Trace, a missing persons drama with Anthony LaPaglia, and the cop-themed RHD/LA, which stars Tom Sizemore and is exec-produced by Heat‘s Michael Mann. Says the source, “The network wants to go in a certain direction, with younger-skewing, harder-edged shows with an urban feel.”
– Craig Zablo (May 27, 2002)