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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!
GATES (NBC) - Kathleen Rose Perkins, Diana Maria Riva, John Grisetti and Justin Chon are the first to be cast in the comedy pilot, based on the U.K. series about the hijinks that ensue when parents drop off and pick up their kids at school each day. Perkins will play the type-A Helen Baxley, "who just moved to town with her husband Mark and their eight year-old daughter for her big new job"; with Riva as Lindsay March, "the head of the PTA who is very easily pissed off"; Grisetti as Nat, "the young-ish school principal, who thinks he's beloved"; and Chon as Rav Mukherjee, a "manny" who serves as a buddy/confidant to Mark. Marc Buckland is helming the 20th Century Fox Television-based half-hour from a script by Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith. (Deadline.com)
MJF (A.K.A. UNTITLED MICHAEL J. FOX PROJECT) (NBC) - Wendell Pierce ("Treme") has joined the cast of the Michael J. Fox-led comedy, about a husband and father of three from New York City dealing with family, career, and challenges - including Parkinson's - all loosely drawn from Fox's real life. He'll play Mike's boss Harris Green, "a slick, twice divorced man." Will Gluck is helming the pilot, which was ordered directly to series back in August. Sam Laybourne co-wrote the script alongside Gluck. (Deadline.com)
S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC) - Chloe Bennet ("Nashville") will round out of the cast of the pilot, a drama set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, following the small screen adventures of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, better known as S.H.I.E.L.D. She'll play Skye, "a confident woman who is slightly obsessed with superhero culture and the shadow organizations that exist within it." Ming-Na, Clark Gregg, Brett Dalton, Elizabeth Henstridge and Ian De Caestecker also star in the ABC Studios-based hour, from Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen and director Joss Whedon. (THR.com)
TWILIGHT ZONE, THE (New!) - Bryan Singer ("Mockingbird Lane") is looking to revive the anthology franchise, pending a deal with creator Rod Serling's estate. He'll executive produce and potentiall direct the project, which has yet to be pitched to the networks, for CBS Television Studios. The search is underway for a writer to pen the script. Concurrently, director Matt Reeves and writer Jason Rothenberg are spearheading a feature incarnation at Warner Bros. Pictures. (Deadline.com)
UNTITLED SEAN HAYES PROJECT (NBC, New!) - Sean Hayes ("Will & Grace") has inked a new deal with the Peacock to star in a potential multi-camera comedy at the network. Victor Fresco ("Better Off Ted") is penning the half-hour, which "centers on Sean (Hayes), who must figure out how to parent his 14-year-old daughter, who just moved in, while navigating a temperamental new boss at work." They'll both also executive produce alongside Todd Milliner for the Universal Television-based Hazy Mills Productions. (Deadline.com)
WHEN THE WOMEN COME OUT TO DANCE (USA) - Amanda Schull and Manolo Cardona have both scored roles on the drama pilot, based on the short story by Elmore Leonard about Billy (Bryan Greenberg), "a Miami businessman who, contemplating a run for political office, tries to increase his chances of being elected by marrying Lourdes (Stephanie Sigman), a Colombian woman who is on the run from her troubled past." Schull will play Melody, "the beautiful daughter of a wealthy former U.S. senator who also used to date Billy," while Cardona is set as Andres Varges, "a handsome political science professor at the University of Miami." Universal Cable Productions-based Hypnotic is behind the hour with Kevin Bray directing from a script by Cheryl Heuton and Nicolas Falacci. (Deadline.com)
AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Nigel Lythgoe took to Twitter to announce "So You Think You Can Dance" has been picked up for a 10th season (@DizzyFeet); Nick at Nite is set to order a second 20-episode season of its freshman entry "See Dad Run" (Deadline.com); Rose McGowan will guest on "Once Upon a Time" as a younger version of Barbara Hershey's Cora in a flashback (Deadline.com); Jason Schwartzman will visit "Parks & Recreation" as the owner of the "only independent movie rental joint in Pawnee and it has fallen on hard times" (HuffPo.com);
Mark Consuelos and John Stamos are bound for "The New Normal" as a grip on Bryan's show whom Rocky (Nene Leakes) develops a crush on and "a coworker of Ellen Barkin's Jane whose sexuality is questioned by the conservative grandma," respectively (EW.com); Bradley Whitford will reunite with his "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" co-star Matthew Perry on "Go On" (@MatthewPerry); Terry Kinney will guest on the post-Super Bowl episode of "Elementary" as "an unpredictable criminal who causes chaos in New York" (TVLine.com);
Toni Trucks will return to NBC's "Do No Harm" for three episodes as Dr. Patricia Rivers (TVLine.com); Brendan Hines will recur on "Beauty and the Beast" as a police department psychologist who will get inside the head of Kristin Kreuk's Catherine while Sendhil Ramamurthy is set as a "power-hungry ADA determined to crack down on crime" (TVLine.com); Shane McRae likewise has booked an arc on "Chicago Fire" as "a high-octane firefighter who has a history one of the other rescuers" (TVLine.com); Brian Klugman is set as the latest squintern on "Bones" (TVLine.com); and Michael Morrison will replace the CNN-bound Jeff Zucker as showrunner of "Katie" (Deadline.com).
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