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[02/08/13 - 11:06 PM]
Development Update: Friday, February 8
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!


BLOODLINES (NBC) - Jonathan Banks ("Breaking Bad") is the first to board the drama pilot, about Bird Benson (yet to be cast), a young woman abandoned at birth by an ancient line of mercenaries, brigands and killers who must learn to defeat her own mother in armed combat if she ever wants to lead a normal life. He'll play her grandfather Leo Killpriest, a Greek mercenary who married off her mother to satisfy a mysterious debt with a rival Chinese clan. Peter Berg is directing the Universal Television-based project from a script by David Graziano. (Deadline.com)


GIRLFRIEND IN A COMA (NBC) - Christina Ricci ("Pan Am") is on track to play the title role on the comedy pilot, about a woman who was in a coma for many years and unexpectedly comes out of the coma to find she has a 17-year-old daughter. She'll play said woman, Karen McNeil, who's billed as serene, gaunt and angelic. Liz Brixius is behind the single-camera project, which is set up at the Universal Television-based Wolf Films. (Deadline.com)


LEFTOVERS, THE (HBO) - Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta's drama - which asks what would happen if The Rapture actually took place and millions of people just disappeared from the Earth - has been ordered to pilot by the pay channel. Said effort is based on the latter's 2011 book of the same name, with Ron Yerxa and Albert Berger executive producing alongside said duo. Warner Bros. Television, home to Lindelof's overall deal, is producing. (Deadline.com)


LORIMER (HBO) - Jonathan Groff ("Boss") and newcomer Frankie Alvarez are the first to be cast in the comedy pilot, about "three thirty-something friends living in San Francisco who grapple with all the options in contemporary life and the complexities of the modern gay experience." Groff is set as Patrick, one of said trio, "an intelligent, witty, well-educated gay video game developer." Alvarez then will play Augustin, "an artist's assistant and Patrick's best friend, who has a strong ego and for whom politics make it difficult to settle down with his boyfriend." Andrew Haigh is helming the half-hour from a script by Michael Lannan. (THR.com)


ORIGINALS, THE (CW) - Danielle Campbell ("Prison Break") is the latest to score a role on the "Vampire Diaries" spin-off, which places Klaus (Joseph Morgan) in the supernatural melting pot that is the French Quarter of New Orleans, a town he helped build centuries ago. She'll play Davina, "a young witch who has been over-sheltered by her protective caregivers." Charles Michael Davis, Daniel Gillies, Daniella Pineda and Phoebe Tonkin also star in the project, which airs as a backdoor pilot on the show's April 25 episode. (Deadline.com)


OXYGEN (The CW) - Aimee Teegarden ("Friday Night Lights") has booked the lead role on the sci-fi drama, about a high school pilot program in which humans and aliens are desegregated. She'll play Emery, a 16-year-old girl who falls for Roman (yet to be cast), one of the nine Orions selected for said program. Meredith Averill is behind the CBS Television Studios-based hour, which is based on a Spanish format. Gary Fleder is directing. (Deadline.com)


SILICON VALLEY (HBO) - Christopher Evan Welch, Amanda Crew, Angela Trimbur, Zach Woods and Kumail Nanjiani have all landed roles on the comedy pilot, set in the high tech gold rush of modern Silicon Valley. Welch will play Peter Gregory, "an eccentric tech billionaire who is the most successful entrepreneur in Silicon Valley"; with Crew as Monica, his very attractive, smart Head of Operations. Rounding out the group are Trimbur as Langdon, a laid-off publicist; Woods as Jared Dunn, a young business executive; and Nanjiani as Dinesh, an East Indian member of Hacker House, the Palo Alto-based firm around which the show is based. Josh Brener, Lindsey Broad, T.J. Miller and Thomas Middleditch also star in the half-hour, from co-creators Mike Judge, John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky. (Deadline.com)


...THEN CAME ELVIS (NBC) - Parker Posey ("Louie") has been tapped for the female lead on the single-camera comedy pilot, about Henry, a 14-year-old boy who watches his family - blind father Mel, immature mom Joyce, rebellious older sister Katie and their dog Elvis - come closer together post-divorce. She'll play said mother, whose affectations include smoking a pipe. D.J. Nash is behind the project, which is set up at Universal Television. (Deadline.com)


UNTITLED NCIS: LOS ANGELES SPIN-OFF PROJECT (CBS) - Scott Grimes and Gillian Alexy have both been cast in the backdoor pilot, which follows a mobile team of agents who are forced to live and work together as they crisscross the country solving crimes. The former will play Dave, "a highly capable agent who has an eye for clues, a nose for lies and is the team's forensic specialist"; with the latter as Claire, who's billed as "educated, worldly, athletic and as tough as she is beautiful." Edwin Hodge, John Corbett and Miguel Ferrer also star in the CBS Television Studios-based hour, from writer Shane Brennan. (Deadline.com)


AND IN OTHER NEWS... - Christina Applegate how bowed out of NBC's multi-camera incarnation of "Up All Night," citing creative differences over said direction (Deadline.com); Barry Sonnenfeld has come on board to direct and executive produce the small screen take on "Beverly Hills Cop" at CBS (Deadline.com); NBC has pushed filming on its drama pilot "Wonderland" due to "the scale and complexity of the production, including special effects" (Deadline.com); Chin Han will recur on "Arrow" as "a successful businessman and old friend of the Queen family" (Deadline.com); Max Fowler and Bex Taylor-Klaus have both been tapped as new series regulars on AMC's "The Killing" (Deadline.com); and Rose McIver is set to recur on Showtime's "Masters of Sex" as the daughter to Beau Bridges's university chancellor Barton Scully (THR.com).






  [may 2013]  
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· ARROW (CW)
· BEVERLY HILLS COP (CBS)
· BLOODLINES (NBC)
· BOSS (STARZ)
· BREAKING BAD (AMC)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· FAMILY GUIDE, THE (NBC)
· FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS (DIRECTV)
· GIRLFRIEND IN A COMA (NBC)
· KILLING, THE (AMC)
· LEFTOVERS, THE (HBO)
· LORIMER (HBO)
· LOUIE (FX)
· MASTERS OF SEX (SHOWTIME)
· ORIGINALS, THE (CW)
· PAN AM (ABC)
· PRISON BREAK (FOX)
· SILICON VALLEY (HBO)
· STAR-CROSSED (CW)
· UNTITLED NCIS: LOS ANGELES SPIN-OFF PROJECT (CBS)
· UP ALL NIGHT (NBC)
· VAMPIRE DIARIES, THE (CW)
· WONDERLAND (NBC)





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