It's just a Fable

ABC has ordered a pilot for a series based on the Bill Willingham created comic-book, Fables. The book, published under DC's Vertigo imprint revolves around characters from fairy tales and folklore living in exile in modern-day New York.

"Their lives become interconnected in a very big way," said Stu Zicherman, who will write the script for the hour-long pilot with Raven Metzner. "They share a secret and a bond."

Zicherman and Metzner wouldn't elaborate which fairy tale characters will be featured in the TV series, but noted that Big Bad Wolf and Snow White, who are central to the comics, will have a similar role on the show.

"We set up a structure to allow any fairy tale character to show up in any one episode," Metzner said. The fairy tale characters will keep some of their trademark characteristics. For instance, Prince Charming will be handsome, while Big Bad Wolf will have to shave a four-day shadow from growing back every day. Overall, "they are just like real people in the real world who live and breathe and look just like you and me," Metzner said.

Describing themselves as "lifetime comic book fans," Zicherman and Metzner fell in love with "Fables" when they read the series' first issue in 2002.

NBC tried to develop a TV series based on the comics during the 2006-07 development season. Among other projects the pair wrote the Elektra Comic-book based movie.