I knew that would get your attention. Rumor is it got Robert Downey Jr.’s and Alec Baldwin’s attention too.

Ryan Murphy, the creator of Nip/Tuck, has a new project: 4 oz. 4 oz. is a “new FX drama about a transsexual sportswriter with a wife and two teenage sons” and Robert and Alec are among the actors reported to have shown interest in joining the show’s cast.

“This will be one of the great parts, if done correctly,” says Murphy, 41. “It will be like Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie – a man who becomes a better man by being a woman.” (Hoffman grabbed an Oscar nomination for his performance in the ’82 film.)

…snip…

The 40-ish protagonist in 4 oz. lives in Pasadena, Calif., and is “an everyday guy who’s been fighting this secret all of his life,” says Murphy. The series follows the “trajectory” of his sexuality.

Murphy calls 4 oz. his version of “My Three Sons, with the father being a tranny.” In his mind, the common thread among the three males “is all their conflict and joys caused by their penises.”

Are we sensing a theme?

Murphy has mapped out several seasons’ plotlines. In Season 1, the character grapples with his secret. In 2, he lives and dresses like a woman. In 3, he undergoes the surgery, and in 4, he’s a woman in the world looking for love.

“I think people will be charmed by how sweet it is,” Murphy says. “It’s daring. There are things in the pilot that are jaw-dropping. It’s not salacious or violent.”

Murphy says 4 oz. will be “more straightforward and dramatic” and “less theatrical” than Nip/Tuck, FX’s most popular show. “The most shocking thing for me to do now is not be shocking.” (Right.)

Murphy, who’s gay, says he has been fascinated with transsexuality since he took a course in sexual deviance his senior year at Indiana University. (He copped an A-plus on his thesis, he says. “I know my trannies.”)

“I’ve always been moved by that journey of somebody trapped inside a different body. It’s just a metaphor for artistic expression – something caught inside, fighting to get out.”

For his part, Murphy has no desire to bend genders. “As a gay man, I certainly feel equal parts man and woman sometimes, but I’ve never had that battle.

“I’ve always been very comfortable in my shoes. I’ve had no desire to turn them into pumps.”

And with that last sentence, I’m giving up any hope of the majority of people ever understanding the difference between sex and gender presentation.

Thanks for the link, Femmester!

You can find Maria on MySpace here. Pick up Queer Shorts, her new anthology, at MergePress.com.