David Chase's Newest Brainchild? A 'Ribbon' Runs Through It.

HBO, the gutsiest network in all of television, and David Chase, the unmockable creator of "The Sopranos," bravely announced they are developing a miniseries about the invention of cinema and the early days of the Hollywood film industry.

The project is called "A Ribbon of Dreams," after the Orson Welles gag that "a film is a ribbon of dreams." HBO admitted as much in yesterday's news release, and I dare you to name another TV network that would risk being nicked by The Reporters Who Cover Television for making a reference in a news release to a guy who was born in 1915.

HBO, emboldened by the David Chase-ness of the project, threw caution to the wind and admitted that the miniseries would begin in the year 1913 and follow two fictitious characters -- one a college-educated mechanical engineer, the other a cowboy who has a violent past -- as they start their film careers in the employ of D.W. Griffith, and then cross career paths with John Ford, John Wayne, Raoul Walsh, Bette Davis, Billy Wilder and other industry notables. (Much Googling by reporters and bloggers to find out whom HBO is talking about.) The miniseries will span nearly 100 years, according to HBO's announcement, and an HBO rep explained to the TV Column that after the two main characters hand in their dinner pails, the story continues with their offspring -- some biological, some creative.

We've now relayed all the details HBO execs said they know about the miniseries because, we were told, Chase hasn't given HBO many of them. Since a "Sopranos" season debut hit more than 13 million viewers in the fall of '02, Chase has been pretty much unfettered from the need to provide networks with pesky details. In fairness, HBO also might have rushed out this news release very early, because it's the best news the Time Warner-owned pay-cable network has had to report in ages.

Meanwhile, over at another Time Warner division, Turner Classic Movies announced the very same day that it would tell the story behind making of the American movie industry in a 10-part documentary series, "Moguls and Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood."

"M&MS" will debut in 2010.

Ironically, HBO's miniseries is being developed with Paramount Pictures, which is owned by Viacom, which owns HBO rival Showtime, which has stolen much of HBO's mojo, according to TV critics. But Brad Grey, who is Paramount Pictures' chairman and CEO, was an exec producer on "The Sopranos" and, Chase said in the announcement, occupies a "special place in my heart," as do the HBO suits. And, of course, Chase is also currently writing a feature film for Paramount Pictures.

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President Obama is making history this week while choosing his comedy venues carefully.

This weekend, he will be the first U.S. president since Grover Cleveland not to participate in the first Gridiron Dinner after being elected.

The Gridiron Dinner, for the uninitiated, is a very exclusive, invitation-only, white-tie play date of the most "prestigious" journalists in Washington. These chosen ones stage goofy song-and-dance numbers for the event, which is attended by politicians, and even the president gets dragged into the act.

Instead of this insider clambake, Obama is opting to take his mug to the people two nights earlier, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to appear on a late-night talk show, when he sits down with Jay Leno on NBC's "The Tonight Show" on Thursday -- presumably to pitch his proposed $3.6 trillion budget for the next fiscal year.