Eddie Murphy - Beverly Hlls Cop

Forgive us if we bristle at this bit of news, but this bad idea just won't go away. We first got word about a year ago that Eddie Murphy was tossing around the idea of breathing life back into his Axel Foley character from the Beverly Hills Cop franchise. But rather than attempt a follow up to 1994's disastrous Beverly Hills Cop III which suffered from the absence of all the beloved characters save for that of Foley, Murphy told Rolling Stone Magazine back then that he was interested in turning it into a TV show. And now comes word from Vulture that it's about to become a reality with The Shield creator Shawn Ryan trumpeting the idea for Sony Pictures Television.

It's still in the pitch process as we speak, so there's still plenty of time for this brain fart to get lost in the wind, but in today's fast-buck world of remakes, reboots, and sequels, the studio suits are certainly licking their chops at the prospect of squeezing a few more bucks from the carcass.

Murphy said in the interview last fall that while his production company that worked on all the Cop pictures was set to executive produce the series, he himself would do the pilot, and only occasionally show up here and there throughout the series. The idea is that in the updated series, Foley is the chief of police back in Detroit, while his son would, we assume, be an officer back in Beverly Hills. It would be structured as a one-hour crime procedural, but it doesn't take a stretch to think that comedy would be a major component as it will likely be a "buddy cop show."

We're holding out hope that Ryan will be the saving grace of this very bad idea. His The Shield was one of the best things going on TV during its six-year run from 2002 to 2008, so with Ryan on board and the potential to have Judge Reinhold return as his bumbling Rosewood, we'll reserve judgement until more details emerge.

UPDATE: 9/4/12 - The Hollywood Reporter is saying that CBS has stepped up to the plate and given a pilot production commitment to the series.