'Hannibal' (Yes, As In 'Lecter') Coming To NBC

Look who NBC is bringing to dinner.

The Peacock's nest isn't screwing around with formalities with this one, either. Entertainment Weekly reports the network has given writer Bryan Fuller's tenatively titled "Hannibal" project a direct-to-series order - giving it a rare bypass of the usually all-important "pilot" phase calling up 13 episodes of the first TV series to spotlight Thomas Harris' famed sociopathic monster, Hannibal Lecter.

The description EW.com quotes calls the project a "one-hour contemporary thriller series featuring the classic characters from Thomas Harris' novel 'Red Dragon' - FBI agent Will Graham and his mentor Dr. Hannibal Lecter - who are re-introduced at the beginning of their budding relationship."

The "Hannibal" pick-up has also reportedly shelved Fuller's other NBC project, a reboot of "The Munsters," indefinitely. Take that news however you will.

Hannibal is easily best remembered portrayed with Sir Anthony Hopkins' unsettling Academy Award-winning calm in Jonathan Demme's 1991 film adaptation of the more famous "Red Dragon" sequel "Silence Of The Lambs," in the 2001 sequel "Hannibal" and a third, final time in Brett Ratner's 2002 take on "Red Dragon" itself. Before any of the above, he was played by Brian Cox in the 1986 first attempt at adapting "Red Dragon," director Michael Mann's "Manhunter."

"Red Dragon" recounts the story of Lecter's first endeavor to serve his own agenda by helping the FBI track a serial killer. In this instance, he's assisting Graham, the agent Lecter nearly killed after Graham discovered it was Lecter - who'd been consulting on a string of murder investigations - who'd commited the attrocities the FBI was investigating. The story references as exposition Lecter and the unassuming Graham's previous cooperative efforts. But there's really little detail given.

Rest assured, I've not lost my mind when I say this: it's an exciting concept that really could work wonders. Get people on board with a revenrence for Harris' characters, and the framework is almost completely there. Only two things do indeed stand in NBC's way.

First, an off-the-bat concession: substituting for Anthony Hopkins won't be difficult . . . . it will be nigh on impossible. That's a role Hopkins absolutely made his own across three films. His performances became the only consistently mesmerizing aspects across all three, and he's quite simply synonomous with the role. Whoever plays Lecter will do well to perhaps be faithful to Hopkins' iconic rendering, but never shoot a scene trying to merely equal or exceed it.

Second, and arguably most importantly, is how a story so violent can be told on prime-time network television.

Consider it inevitable: this will invite comparisons with "Dexter" and its perpetual cat-and-mouse arcs. But "Dexter" gets away with so much because it's a premium cable original with no advertisers to whom it must answer and virtually no FCC meddling. NBC will have to find a way to portray Lecter's calm, collected brutality - and let's face it, his notorious cannibalism - without advertisers and censors respectively losing their lunches.