or


[09/24/13 - 11:26 PM]
Development Update: Tuesday, September 24
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)

LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- The latest development news, culled from recent wire reports:

Looking to keep track of all the various projects in development? Click here to visit our signature "Devwatch" section. There visitors can view our listings by network, genre, studio and even development stage (ordered to pilot, cast-contingent, script, etc.). It's updated every day!


BILLY RAY (FOX, New!) - Writer Clifton Campbell ("The Glades") and director Robert Zemeckis (Flight) have scored a put pilot commitment from the network for a drama about "a family thrown into chaos when the child who was stolen from them as a baby is returned 16 years later after being raised in rural Alabama by someone with a questionable past." Jack Rapke and Jackie Levine also serve as executive producers on the hour, to be co-produced by Compari Entertainment and a yet-to-be-determined studio. (Deadline.com)


THE BLACK BOX (ABC; W: Amy Holden Jones; D: Simon Curtis) - Vanessa Redgrave is set to star opposite Kelly Reilly in the limited series, about Dr. Elizabeth Black (Reilly), a world-famous neuroscientist who unwraps the mysteries of the brain as she juggles complex issues of her own. She'll play Dr. Hartramph, "Elizabeth's psychiatrist and the only one who knows all her secrets." (Deadline.com)


DOLL & EM (HBO, New!) - The pay channel has acquired Sky Living's upcoming six-episode series, a semi-improvised comedy about what happens when your best friend becomes a Hollywood star and you find yourself employed as their personal assistant. Real-life best friends Emily Mortimer ("The Newsroom") and Dolly Wells (Bridget Jones' Diary) topline the half-hour and co-wrote the script alongside director Azazel Jacobs. Said trio likewise executive produced with Alessandro Nivola, Stacia Peters, Kevin Comer, Andrew Eaton and Lucy Lumsden for King Bee Productions and Revolution Films. (Deadline.com)


THE GOOD THIEF'S GUIDE (ABC, New!) - British author Chris Ewan's bestselling book series - about "the charming and unpredictable Charlie Howard as he travels the world, blogging about his adventures... while stealing for fun and profit" - is being developed as a drama at the Alphabet. Hart Hanson ("Bones") and Andrew Miller ("The Secret Circle") are spearheading the adaptation - which has a significant penalty attached - via the former's 20th Century Fox Television-based Far Field Productions. (Deadline.com)


GORTIMER GIBBON'S LIFE ON NORMAL STREET (Amazon; W: David Anaxagoras; D: TBA) - Robyn Lively and Sloan Morgan Siegel have booked the lead roles on the comedy pilot, about the lives of three quirky tweens who live in a surreal world of eccentric characters and strange happenings. Siegel will play the title role with Lively as "Gortimer's smart, relaxed and independent mom." (Deadline.com)


GOTHAM (FOX, New!) - The early years of DC Comics hero Commissioner James Gordon are set to be explored as part of a new drama at the network spearheaded by Bruno Heller ("The Mentalist"). The project, which has a blind series commitment, will track Gordon when he was still "a detective with the Gotham City Police Department and has yet to meet Batman, who will not be part of the series." Said effort is set up at Heller's Warner Bros. Television-based Primrose Hill Productions. (Deadline.com)


HOW TO BE AN ADULT (ABC, New!) - Nick Kreiss ("Punk'd") is developing "a hybrid workplace comedy about a man-child tasked with saving his family business alongside his dad's comically awful widow." Sony Pictures Television is behind the semi-autobiographical half-hour with Evan Silverberg, Underground Films' Trevor Engelson and FanFare Productions' Jamie Tarses also on board as executive producers. (Deadline.com)


LINE OF SIGHT (AMC/AMC Studios/FTS; W: Blake Masters; D: Jonathan Demme) - Chinasa Ogbuagu ("The Following") is the latest to board the drama pilot, about Lewis Bernt (David Morrissey), a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator who survives a mysterious plane crash, bringing him on a quest to discover the accident's cause. She'll play Mary Jo Stiger, "who is trying to figure out why her husband died in the crash while the others escaped injury." Darren Pettie, Kai Lennox, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Olafur Darri Olafsson, Omar Metwally, Samantha Mathis and Sarah Clarke also star. (Deadline.com)


LOVE IS DEAD (USA/GIT/UCP; W: Zev Borow; D: Lorene Scafaria) - Richard Kind ("Golden Boy") has joined the cast of the comedy pilot, about a unique company that specializes in breaking-up romantic relationships - rationally, compassionately, thoroughly - on behalf of those who are willing to pay to not be around when it happens. He'll play Ken Bell, Alex's (Ben Rappaport) father, a cantankerous man with a penchant for tough-love advice and quality mustard. Janina Gavankar and Khary Payton also star. (Deadline.com)


THE ODYSSEY (NBC, New!) - Writers Adam Armus and Kay Foster ("The Following") are set to team with director Peter Horton ("Ironside") for a potential drama about "three families who are torn apart when a stranded female soldier, a disillusioned corporate attorney and a disrespected political activist are pulled into the same shocking international military conspiracy." Said trio will co-write the hour - NBC's first pilot order for the 2014-15 broadcast season - with Horton directing for Universal Television. Fabrik Entertainment's Mikkel Bondesen and Kristen Campo and Red Arrow Entertainment Group's Simon Maxwell and Henrik Bastin will also serve as executive producers. (THR.com)


UNTITLED SEBASTIAN MANISCALCO PROJECT (NBC, New!) - Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco is set to star in a potential multi-camera project at the Peacock based on his stand-up and life. Dan Kopelman ("Rules of Engagement") is penning the script for Sony Pictures Television and Levity Entertainment Group with Lakeshore Entertainment's Gary Lucchesi and Tom Rosenberg also serving as executive producers and Scott Herbst as a co-executive producer. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Joanne Kelly will recur on "Hostages" as an ambitious ambassador and the sister of Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's First Lady of the United States (Deadline.com); Jack Coleman is likewise bound for "Scandal" as "a charming Southerner with ties to one of the gladiators" (Deadline.com); America Olivo is bound for NBC's "Chicago PD" as the wife of Jon Seda's Antonio Dawson (Deadline.com); Kim Kardashian will lend her voice to "American Dad" as a furry alien that falls for Roger after he spaceship crash-lands in Langley Falls (EW.com);

Zuleikha Robinson will recur on CBS's "Intelligence" as Amelia, the MIA wife of Josh Holloway's Gabriel, a role played by Sandy Sidhu in the original pilot (EW.com); Steven Pasquale is set to guest on "White Collar" as "a rogue stock broker who sees an opportunity to exploit the world of high-frequency trading on Wall Street" (EW.com); Kate Micucci will return to "The Big Bang Theory" as Lucy in a November episode (THR.com); James Allen McCune and Danika Yarosh will both visit the new season of "Shameless" (THR.com).






  [september 2013]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S


· AMERICAN DAD (TBS)
· AMERICAN ODYSSEY (NBC)
· BIG BANG THEORY, THE (CBS)
· BILLY RAY (FOX)
· BLACK BOX (ABC)
· BONES (FOX)
· CHICAGO PD (NBC)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DOLL & EM (HBO)
· FOLLOWING, THE (FOX)
· GLADES, THE (A AND E)
· GOLDEN BOY (CBS)
· GOOD THIEF'S GUIDE, THE (ABC)
· GORTIMER GIBBON'S LIFE ON NORMAL STREET (AMAZON)
· GOTHAM (FOX)
· HOSTAGES (CBS)
· HOW TO BE AN ADULT (ABC)
· INTELLIGENCE (CBS)
· IRONSIDE (NBC)
· LINE OF SIGHT (AMC)
· LOVE IS DEAD (USA)
· MENTALIST, THE (CBS)
· NEWSROOM, THE (HBO)
· PUNK'D (BET)
· RULES OF ENGAGEMENT (CBS)
· SCANDAL (ABC)
· SECRET CIRCLE, THE (CW)
· SHAMELESS (SHOWTIME)
· UNTITLED SEBASTIAN MANISCALCO PROJECT (NBC)
· WHITE COLLAR (USA)





[11/27/24 - 10:04 AM]
Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren to Lead New Guy Ritchie Project for Paramount+ with Showtime
The project is an electrifying, new global crime series centered around two warring families based in London whose enterprises stretch all corners of the globe and the fiercely loyal "fixer" charged with protecting one of them at all costs.

[11/27/24 - 08:00 AM]
"ChiefsAholic: A Wolf in Chiefs Clothing" Premieres Exclusively on Prime Video on December 24
The true-crime documentary about Kansas City Chiefs superfan and serial bank robber Xaviar Babudar, features unprecedented interview footage with Babudar following his initial arrest, prior to him removing his ankle monitor and going on the run.

[11/27/24 - 07:09 AM]
Discovery Channel December Programming Highlights
This December, new Episodes of "Contraband: Seized at the Airport," "Expedition Files," "Game Changers," "Gold Rush," "Homestead Rescue," "The Last Woodsmen," "Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch," and "Mystery of the Abandoned" premiere on Discovery Channel.

[11/27/24 - 05:59 AM]
Video: Check Out the Official Teaser Trailer for New Medical Mystery Drama "Watson," Starring Morris Chestnut
A 60-second version of the trailer will air during the Chicago Bears vs. Detroit Lions NFL Thanksgiving game Thursday, November 28, on CBS, with the full version available online.

[11/26/24 - 05:01 PM]
"The Summer Hikaru Died" Set to Bring Eerie Anime Thrills to Netflix
A chilling blend of slice of life and the supernatural, Yoshiki's life is thrown upside down when his best friend Hikaru is replaced by "something" that looks and acts just like him.

[11/26/24 - 04:55 PM]
"Abbott Elementary" Season 4 Return Skyrockets +321% in Total Viewers and +846% in Adults 18-49 Over Initial Live+Same Day Audience
The season four premiere of "Abbott Elementary" stands as the top multiplatform telecast in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 since the show's post-Oscars episode (3/10/24).

[11/26/24 - 03:01 PM]
Video: New Games, New Stakes - "Squid Game" Season 2 Main Trailer and Key Art "Round and Round" Unveiled
With its premiere just around the corner on December 26, the trailer delivers an electrifying glimpse into the deadly games and gripping character dynamics that await fans worldwide.

[11/26/24 - 02:34 PM]
Video: Paramount+ with Showtime Debuts Official Trailer for Showtime's "Dexter: Original Sin"
The series premieres Friday, December 13 on streaming and on demand for Paramount+ subscribers with the Paramount+ with Showtime plan, before making its on-air US debut on Sunday, December 15 at 10pm ET/PT.

[11/26/24 - 01:15 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers"
"Nightline" posted double-digit gains week to week across the board, hitting a 6-week high in overall viewers and 7-week highs in both key Adult demos.

[11/26/24 - 12:31 PM]
Netflix Orders Limited-Series Adaptation of Harlan Coben's "I Will Find You"
An innocent father serving life for the murder of his own son receives evidence that his child may still be alive - and must break out of prison to find out the truth.

[11/26/24 - 12:03 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of Nov. 18: "The Merry Gentlemen" and "A Man on the Inside" Take the Top Spots
Season 2 of the animated series "Arcane" laid siege to #2 (6.4M views), while Season 1 took #5 with 2.2M views.

[11/26/24 - 11:44 AM]
TNT Sports to Debut "Evolve and Flex" with Lance Fresh Friday, Dec. 6, on truTV and Max
The show is hosted by sports-lifestyle expert Lance Fresh and features candid conversations with guests to discuss how life's events have contributed to their sense of style.

[11/26/24 - 11:19 AM]
MGM+ Announces 2025 Premiere Date for "NFL Icons" Season Four
In the upcoming fourth season, the docuseries will feature Pro Football Hall of Famers Joe Montana, DeMarcus Ware, Kurt Warner and Gale Sayers.

[11/26/24 - 10:24 AM]
Video: "Rogue Heroes" (MGM+ 2025 Series) Season 2 Tease
"Rogue Heroes" is a dramatized account of how the world's greatest Special Forces unit, the SAS, was formed under extraordinary circumstances in the darkest days of World War Two.

[11/26/24 - 10:09 AM]
Video: Acorn TV Releases Official Trailer for Second Season of Hit Australian Drama, "Darby and Joan"
The new season debuts with a two-episode premiere, exclusively on Acorn TV, on December 30, followed by weekly episodes through January 27.