From KCRW and KCRW.com, I'm Kim Masters, and this is the business.

I honestly wasn't sure I wanted to go down that road because I knew what it would require of me,

and I wasn't sure I wanted to chase that tiger's tail.

Actor, writer, and now showrunner, Ray McKinnon, had an idea for a TV series about a prisoner

who walks free

after years on death row.

Turns out his script sat for years, and when McKinnon got a surprise offer to make the show,

he almost said no.

Plus, lawyer Neville Johnson represents clients who sue studios over profits.

He explains how the late James Garner was an inspiration.

But first on the news banter, Time Warner escapes, and still more superheroes.

Stay tuned. It's the business from KCRW.

I am joined by my fellow banterer, Matt Bellany, the Hollywood reporter. Hey, Matt. Hi there.

So we talked not so very long ago about the seeming inevitability of Rupert Murdoch and 21st Century Fox acquiring Time Warner.

Everybody thought what Rupert wants, Rupert gets. and it turns out at least not now, not this time.

Yeah, I mean, that was a pretty surprised development.

People thought it was just a haggle over price, and eventually there would be a deal.

But when Fox abruptly walked away, they basically said that Time Warner had refused to engage with them on any meaningful conversation.

Yeah, I mean, they said it very emphatically.

Like, we're really serious. We really mean it. We're really walking away because they're sort of like those, you know, rattlers that you find on the highway and you think are dead.

And then when you try to pick them up to keep a souvenir, they jump up and bite you.

And people are still scared. Rupert is so scary. They still think you might jump up and bite, but they were very emphatic.

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