CBS has acquired the rights to Pump, an eight-episode scripted drama produced by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Each episode will be an hour long, and the show is set in the 1970s in a Venice Beach gym called, you guessed it, Pump. It’s been a long time coming. The script has jumped around from one company to another over the past few years. After things fell through at Showtime and Hulu, CBS answered the call.
“I knew from our first brainstorming session that Pump would be a hit. The ’70s were such a colorful, transformational time, for me and for our entire country,” Schwarzenegger told The Hollywood Reporter. “I look forward to bringing that color to people’s living rooms with the fantastic, deep characters and the multi-layered story lines of Pump.”
According to Deadline, the series will be set in 1973 as a group of fledgling bodybuilders cut their teeth in the growing fitness industry. Arnold wasn’t a big name then, he was just another hyper-muscular athlete known as “The Oak.” Unlike now, even the most famous bodybuilders didn’t make a lot of money in the 70s and had to live a tough life full of long road trips as they looked to turn their rags into riches.
“I feel so passionate about this project because today it’s easy to take our gyms and culture of fitness for granted,” Schwarzenegger said. “[But] it all started with this wild group of bodybuilders as a tiny subculture in a little dungeon gym in Venice Beach. I can’t wait to get to work with our great team.”
