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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!
BEDROOMS & BOARDROOMS (ABC) - Paige Turco ("Rescue Me") and Jessica Collins ("Tru Calling") have both been cast in the drama pilot, about four high-powered CEOs and CEOs-to-be (Dylan McDermott, Michael Vartan, Christopher Titus, Joshua Malina) who are friends and members of the same golf club. Turco is set as Lisbeth, the ex-wife of McDermott's character, while Collins is playing Marla, the mistress of Malina's character.
Note: The original article incorrectly listed the Jessica Collins of "The Nine" fame as the actress attached to this project. She is actually attached to the CBS drama pilot "The Man." Our apologies for the confusion.
Commitment: Ordered to pilot
Cast: Christopher Titus (Brody), Dylan McDermott (Duncan), Jessica Collins (Marla), Joshua Malina (Karl), Michael Vartan (James), Nia Long (Katie), Paige Turco (Lisbeth), Peyton List (Cameron)
Writer: Jon Harmon Feldman
Director: Charles McDougall
Executive Producers: Jon Harmon Feldman
Studio: Warner Bros. Television
THE CAPTAIN (CBS) - Raquel Welch ("American Family") is the latest addition to the comedy pilot, about the characters who live in an old Hollywood building. She'll play a former TV star and bombshell.
Commitment: Ordered to pilot
Cast: Fran Kranz (Josh), Jeffrey Tambor, JoAnna Garcia (Hope), Raquel Welch, Valerie Azlynn (Astrid)
Writer: John Hamburg
Director: John Hamburg
Executive Producers: John Hamburg
Studio: CBS Paramount Network Television
GOSSIP GIRL (The CW) - Penn Badgley ("The Bedford Diaries") has booked a lead role on the drama pilot, about the world of privileged teenagers attending elite private schools in New York City as told through the eyes of an anonymous blogger. No specifics about his character were released.
Commitment: Ordered to pilot
Cast: Blake Lively (Serena), Chace Crawford (Nate), Leighton Meester (Blair), Penn Badgley, Taylor Momsen
Writers: Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage
Director: Mark Piznarski
Executive Producers: Bob Levy (Alloy Entertainment), Josh Schwartz (College Hill Productions), Leslie Morgenstein (Alloy Entertainment), Stephanie Savage
Studio: Warner Bros. Television
HURRICANE SEASON (HBO, New!) - The true story of the John Curtis Christian School football team, which in the fall of 2005 overcame poverty, homelessness and other hardships to win the Louisana state championship, is being developed as an original movie by the cable channel. Neal Thompson's upcoming book of the same name will serve as the basis of the project. State Street Pictures' George Tillman and Robert Teitel and Adelstein Productions' Marty Adelstein and Scott Nemes are on board to executive produce while John Romano ("American Dreams") is attached to pen the script. Sean Sorenson is also on board as a co-executive producer.
Commitment: Script
Cast: TBA
Writer: John Romano
Director: TBA
Executive Producers: George Tillman (State Street Pictures), Marty Adelstein (Adelstein Productions), Robert Teitel (State Street Pictures), Scott Nemes (Adelstein Productions)
Co-Executive Producer: Sean Sorenson
Studio: TBA
LOS DUQUES (CBS) - "Rome" co-star Polly Walker is the latest addition to the pilot, a drama about three generations of the Duques, a powerful Latin American family. She'll play Ellis Samuels, the leader of a rival family.
Commitment: Ordered to pilot
Cast: Alona Tal (Rebecca King), Eddie Matos (Henry Duque), Hector Elizondo (Pancho Duque), Jimmy Smits (Alex Vega), Lina Esco (Katie Vega), Michael Trevino (Jaime Vega), Nestor Carbonell (Frank Duque), Paola Turbay (Isabel Vega), Polly Walker (Ellis Samuels), Rita Moreno (Amalia Duque), Sam Carmen (Artie Vega)
Writer: Cynthia Cidre
Director: Christian Duguay
Executive Producers: Cynthia Cidre, Jimmy Iovine (Interscope Records), Jimmy Smits (El Sendero Productions), Jonathan Prince, Polly Anthony (Interscope Records)
Studios: ABC Television Studio, CBS Paramount Network Television
ME & LEE (FOX) - "Strangers With Candy" helmer Paul Dinello has signed on to direct the comedy pilot, about a guy with chronic back pain who gets more than he bargained for when he undergoes "bionic" back surgery in a secret basement lab run by Lee Majors. Dinello's involvement lifts the directing contingency off the pilot's production.
Commitment: Ordered to pilot (previously director-contingent)
Cast: Lee Majors
Writer: Matthew Salsberg
Director: Paul Dinello
Executive Producers: Allan Loeb (Scarlet Fire Productions), Jenji Kohan, Matthew Salsberg, Steven Pearl (Scarlet Fire Productions)
Studio: Lionsgate Television
N.S.A. INNOCENT (FOX) - The network has opted to postpone production on the drama pilot, about a family man (Stephen Moyer) who is recruited by the NSA as a spy within the defense contracting company he works for, following a table read on Monday. It's understood a search is underway for a new actor to play the title role while the producers are also said to be tweaking the script and redefining the lead and other characters.
Commitment: Ordered to pilot
Cast: Billy Brown (Wicks), Jesse James (Andrew Fisher), Stana Katic (Baker), Stephen Moyer (Paul Fisher)
Writers: Bob Cochran, David Ehrman
Director: Jon Cassar
Executive Producers: Bob Cochran (Real Time Productions), David Ehrman, Howard Gordon (Real Time Productions), Joel Surnow (Real Time Productions)
Studio: 20th Century Fox Television
PLAYING CHICKEN (FOX) - Jake Busey ("Road House 2: Last Call") has scored a role on the comedy pilot, about two brothers (Norbert Leo Butz, Bill Burr) at odds who come together after one (Butz) is paralyzed in an accident. He'll play a dim and laid-back guy.
Commitment: Ordered to pilot
Cast: Bill Burr (Tim), Jake Busey, Marianne Muellerleile (Donna), Norbert Leo Butz (Jake)
Writers: John Morris, Sean Anders
Director: John Pasquin
Executive Producers: Eric Gold (Werner-Gold-Miller), Jimmy Miller (Werner-Gold-Miller), Tom Werner (Werner-Gold-Miller)
Co-Executive Producers: John Morris, Sean Anders
Studio: Warner Bros. Television
PROTECT & SERVE (CBS) - Dean Cain ("Las Vegas"), Tamala Jones ("One on One") and Jessica Pare ("Jack & Bobby") are the latest additions to the drama pilot, about the lives of street cops in suburban Los Angeles. Cain will play Mike Borelli, a veteran officer with Jones as Sharon Harvey, the wife of Steve Harris' character, and Pare as Hope Cook, the wife of Thad Luckinbill's character.
Commitment: Ordered to pilot
Cast: Dean Cain (Mike Borelli), Eric Balfour (Paul Grogan), Jessica Pare (Hope Cook), Monica Potter (Lizzie Borelli), Steve Harris (Dennis Harvey), Tamala Jones (Sharon Harvey), Thad Luckinbill (Tim "Cookie the Rookie" Cook), Victoria Cartagena (Anita Esparza)
Writers: Mark Gibson, Philip Halprin
Director: Sergio Mimica-Gezzan
Executive Producers: Gary Scott Thompson, Mark Gibson, Philip Halprin
Studio: NBC Universal Television Studio
SAM I AM (ABC) - "Gilmore Girls" co-star Melissa McCarthy has been cast in the comedy pilot, about a woman with amnesia (Christina Applegate) who has to rediscover her life. She'll play a former friend of Applegate's character who reappears in her life. While not specified, McCarthy's involvement is likely in second position to her duties on "Girls."
Commitment: Ordered to pilot
Cast: Christina Applegate (Sam), Jean Smart, Jennifer Esposito (Angela), Melissa McCarthy, Tim Russ (Frank)
Writers: Cecelia Ahern, Don Todd
Director: Robert Duncan McNeil
Executive Producers: Don Todd, Peter Traugott (Brillstein-Grey Television)
Producer: Cecelia Ahern
Studio: ABC Television Studio
UNTITLED PHIL GURIN ROJECT (CBS, New!) - Reality guru Phil Gurin ("The Weakest Link") has scored a pilot commitment for a new game show at the Eye. As expected, few details were released about the project, which is said to revolve around strangers determining how much they trust each other as they develop a relationship via gameplay. Gurin then will executive produce through his The Gurin Company banner.
Commitment: Ordered to pilot
Cast: TBA
Writer: TBA
Director: TBA
Executive Producers: Phil Gurin
Studio: The Gurin Company
UP ALL NIGHT (CBS) - J.D. Walsh ("Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip") and Josh Meyers ("Mad TV") are the first to be cast in the comedy pilot, about a group of people who hang out at an all-night grill. Walsh is believed to be playing Matthew, who's described in the casting notice as follows: "Early-Mid 30s, any ethnicities, he is goofy and sweet but a little dim, a maintenance worker at Harvard. More proud of and loyal to the university than any of its students are, Matthew identifies himself as "A Harvard Man"." Meyers then is understood to be set as Farrelly: "Early 30s, any ethnicities, "a less tough Ben Affleck from 'Good Will Hunting,'" he is a regular at the diner. He taunts and teases, without being a real threat. He speaks with a thick Boston accent, and thinks that Ben is "wicked smart." Farrelly has a live-in girlfriend and kids, but likes to spend the middle of the night with his friends at the diner."
Commitment: Ordered to pilot
Cast: J.D. Walsh, Josh Meyers
Writer: Scott Silveri
Director: Andy Ackerman
Executive Producers: Scott Silveri
Studio: Warner Bros. Television
WILDLIFE (NBC) - Tracy Vilar ("Saved") has landed a role on the pilot, a workplace comedy set at a zoo. No specifics about her character were released.
Commitment: Ordered to pilot
Cast: Brooke D'Orsay (Missy), Christopher Sieber (Jim), J.P. Walker, Mo Collins, Philip Baker Hall (Arnie), Tracy Vilar
Writers: David Israel, Jim O'Doherty
Director: Tucker Gates
Executive Producers: Conan O'Brien (Conaco Productions), David Israel, David Kissinger (Conaco Productions), Jeff Ross (Conaco Productions), Jim O'Doherty
Studio: NBC Universal Television Studio
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
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