Oh Me, Oh My, Oh iZombie

The world can be a surprisingly small place, and the strands that connect us are often unexpected. When TV writer/producer Diane Ruggiero-Wright started adapting Chris Roberson and Mike Allred's comic iZombie for TV, they quickly realized they had something in common: burlesque.

If Ruggiero-Wright's name seems familiar, it's because she and producer (and Austin transplant) Rob Thomas have had a left hand/right hand relationship since Veronica Mars. Now she's the co-developer and writer of their latest collaboration.

iZombie features a woman going through that typical mid-20s identity crisis. How close does she want to be with her family? Does she really want to be with her boyfriend? Is she too buried in her work? How does she hold down a stable job now that she has to eat brains or turn into a monstrous, uncontrollable, ravenous monster? How does she deal with absorbing the memories of the brains she scavanges from the recently deceased? And when will everyone notice that she's actually dead, and the translucent skin thing isn't just a look?

UT grad Roberson's comic had been a cult hit for DC's Vertigo imprint, and a natural fit for the teencentric CW. But it was actually the art of the tease that brought the scripter and the comic writer into each other's orbit. Ruggiero-Wright was working on a burlesque script, and immersed herself in the culture. "I was taking some classes and performing a bit, and getting really into the scene, and going to the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas." What she didn't know was that Roberson also had a lot of friends who taught and performed, and they ended up with a lot of mutual acquaintances. "I was surprised that we didn't know each other," she said.

When iZombie came along, Ruggerio-Wright and Thomas were wrapping up the Veronica Mars movie. But away from that triumphant return, Ruggiero-Wright admits both she and Thomas were residing in development hell. "We had these passion projects where you would sell your soul to get them made, and getting our hearts broken." Enter Warner's Executive Vice President for Development Susan Rovner, who pitched the comic to Thomas, who in turn pitched it to his creative partner, who is the much bigger horror fan. "He said, they have this project iZombie, and I said I'm in."

After struggling for so long to get her own project made, the CW's zeal knocked Ruggiero-Wright over. "To have someone come to you with something that's a hard sell, and they're selling it to you, it's unbelievable."

The show debuted at SXSW (see Dead Awakening, March 13), and it came with the inevitable changes. Protagonist Gwen has become Liv (played by Once Upon a Time's Rose McIver); she works in a morgue rather than a cemetery; and, significantly, unlike the comic there are only zombies. No ghosts, no vampires, and no were-terrier. "So much of what I loved about Chris' project, I was sure wouldn't work for our show," explained Ruggiero-Wright, "and having a were-terrier, making it look good and making a zombie look good, we just didn't have the budget."

However, she still feels that fans of the comic will recognze the iZombie they love. "We took the heart of it … and the aspect of her eating brains and getting the memories of that person."

It's a far cry from the bloody grit of the king of zombie shows, The Walking Dead. Ruggiero-Wright said, "If you're looking for exact science, you may not want to watch the zombie coroner show." However, she and Thomas still have a very clear idea of how their undead operate, and where Liv's affliction will take her. "We can't stand when shows bullshit their audience for five seasons," she said. "We were very conscious of not contradicting ourselves, but we also wanted to have fun. It's not a guide to surviving the zombie apocalypse."

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iZombie airs Tuesdays, 8pm, on the CW. Catch early episodes at www.cwtv.com.