[01/16/13 - 11:01 PM] Development Update: Wednesday, January 16 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!
GATES (NBC) - Christina Kirk ("Girls") is the latest to board the comedy pilot, about the hijinks that ensue when parents drop off and pick up their kids at school each day. She'll play Sarah Palmer, "a neglected, hot, depressed stay-at-home mom." Diana Maria Riva, John Grisetti, Justin Chon and Kathleen Rose Perkins also star in the single-camera project, from 20th Century Fox Television, director Marc Buckland and writers Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith. (Deadline.com)HELIX (Syfy) - The Ronald D. Moore-produced drama - about "a team of scientists investigating a possible disease outbreak at an Arctic research facility who find themselves trying to protect the world from annihilation" - is reportedly close to a 13-episode straight-to-series order. Cameron Porsandeh created the Sony Pictures Television-based hour and serves as a co-executive producer with Moore and Lynda Obst executive producing. (Deadline.com)MJF (NBC) - Katie Finneran, Conor Romero and Jack Gore have been cast in the upcoming comedy, which stars Michael J. Fox as Mike Burnaby, 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. Finneran will play Mike's "narcissistic, single and jobless sister" Leigh with Romero as his college dropout son Ian and Gore as his younger, eight-year-old son Graham. Wendell Pierce also stars in the Sony Pictures Television-based half-hour, from co-creators Will Gluck and Sam Laybourne. (Deadline.com)MURDER IN THE FIRST (A.K.A. UNTITLED STEVEN BOCHCO MURDER MYSTERY PROJECT) (TNT) - Steven Bochco and Eric Lodal's crime drama - which intimately dissects a single murder case over an entire season - has been ordered to pilot by the cable channel. The San Francisco-set hour tracks "the murder of a Silicon Valley wunderkind who is a celebrated CEO of a cutting edge tech firm." Bochco is executive producing with Lodal serving as a co-executive producer. (Deadline.com)UNTITLED DANA MIN GOODMAN/JULIA WOLOV PROJECT (MTV, New!) - Dana Min Goodman and Julia Wolov ("Good Vibes") have sold "a female buddy comedy set in high school" to the cable channel. No details were given about the project, which Goodman and Wolov will presumably executive produce. (Deadline.com)UNTITLED ROB COHEN/OWEN BURKE PROJECT (USA, New!) - Rob Cohen and Owen Burke are developing a talk show that's being billed as "a morning show in late night." The proposed project, to feature a male-female hosting team, would air live at 12:01am ET, making it the first "morning show" of the day. Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's Gary Sanchez Productions is behind the series, which they'll executive produce alongside said creators. (TVGuide.com)WHEN THE WOMEN COME OUT TO DANCE (USA) - Kumail Nanjiani, Jordi Vilasuso, John Pankow and Aisha Hinds have all landed roles on the drama pilot, about "Miami businessman Billy (Bryan Greenberg) who, contemplating a run for political office, tries to increase his chances of being elected by marrying a Colombian woman named Lourdes (Stephanie Sigman)." Nanjiani will guest as Alfred Dalton, "an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Agent and K-1 Visa Specialist"; with Vilasuso as Mario Morales, "Miami's youngest District Attorney ever who's married to Billy's ex-fiance Margaret (Amanda Schull)"; Pankow as Herman Mackey, "an old-school Miami real-estate developer"; and Hinds as Rosie, "the senior employee at Billy's mother's house cleaning business which he's been struggling to run since her death." Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton are behind the hour, which is based on Elmore Leonard's short story of the same name. (TVLine.com)AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Lifetime has passed on its drama pilot "The Secret Lives of Wives," inspired by the book by Iris Krasnow (Deadline.com); Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage's Fake Empire banner is on track to sign an overall deal with ABC Studios, ending their run at Warner Bros. Television (Variety.com); Mark Burg and Michael Menchel's Evolution Entertainment has inked a first-look deal with Lionsgate Television (Deadline.com); Olly Murs will guest on "90210" and perform two songs to help Liam and Navid woo a pro-surfer (EW.com); Edi Gathegi is set to recur on "Beauty and the Beast" as "a composed agent for a top-secret organization with killer looks and instincts to match" (EW.com); and Lance Henriksen will drop by NBC's "Hannibal" in a top-secret role (TVLine.com).
