 |
 |
[03/24/08 - 04:28 PM]
Development Update: Monday, March 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!
DIARY OF A MANHATTAN CALL GIRL (HBO) - The pay channel has commissioned a pilot for the Darren Star-produced project, an ensemble comedy that takes a look at how power, sex and money collide through the eyes of a group of Manhattan's highest-paid escorts. Star penned the pilot script based on Tracy Quan's memoir of the same name and is executive producing via his Sony Pictures Television-based Darren Star Productions alongside Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas. He's also expected to direct should his schedule permit.
HOW TO TEACH FILTHY RICH GIRLS (The CW) - Michael Cassidy ("Hidden Palms") is the latest addition to the drama pilot, about a Yale-educated young woman who is hired to be the tutor to two rich heiresses in Palm Beach. He'll play the woman's boyfriend in the project, which comes from creator Rina Mimoun, Alloy Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television.
MEANT TO BE'S (CBS) - Amy Smart ("Smith") has been cast in the lead role of the drama pilot, about a wealthy young gallery owner in New York who becomes a pseudo-angel after her death in order to earn her spot in heaven. Said role, Janine Sebring, is further described in the casting notice as: "30, beautiful, extremely wealthy, sleek and stylish. Janine is a quintessential, high-powered, uppercrust New Yorker, complete with art gallery ownership, an on-call driver, and a gorgeous fiance. Despite her classy trappings, she's an endearingly bad dancer with no rhythm. Witty, erudite and elitist, she can be sharp-tongued and high-maintenance, and her underlings at work don't always know when she's being sarcastic. She's the type who gives money to homeless people so they'll move out of her way, not because she feels compassionate toward them. When Steven, her fiance, decides they should make their union official immediately and worry about the celebration later, she believes he's being romantic and allows herself to be swept up in the plan. While grabbing items for the subsequent honeymoon, she is attacked in her apartment and thrown from her 40th floor balcony for reasons unknown to her. When she wakes up, she's neither in Heaven nor Hell, but a dream-like world in which people belonging to different metaphysical departments make choices for those still on earth that will change the course of their lives. Her tour guide and mentor is a handsome Man who explains she has become a "Meant To Be," like him. This means she has a ways to go before Heaven will admit her, and must spend her time giving people on earth a nudging, helping hand in the "meant to be" direction." Glenn Gordon Caron is behind the CBS Paramount Network Television-based hour, which he wrote and is directing.
NY-LON (CBS) - Larry Shaw ("Desperate Housewives") has signed on to direct the drama pilot, about a New York record store clerk and a London stock broker who, after a fateful encounter in London, embark on a cross-continental romance. He'll work from a script by co-creators Lara Runnels and Patti Carr. ABC Studios is behind the hour, which is being executive produced by Armyan Bernstein, Chris Coelen, Laurie Zaks and Rob Pursey.
PRISON BREAK (FOX) - Nick Santora, a co-executive producer on the series, has posted to his MySpace.com page that season four is officially a go. The posting reads: "So we got word on Wednesday that we are officially picked up by the network for Season 4. This is great news. We are all very excited. We are moving offices onto the Fox Studio Lot next week and we had to say goodbye to the offices that were our home for the past 3 years ... not really that sad because, well, c�mon, it�s just a frickin� building. But my new office is about half the size with just a tiny window which normally would suck except for one thing ... I get to go to work everyday with people I love and respect and I get to be creative. So I don�t really give a rat�s ass what our new offices look like! For those of you who celebrate Easter, have a great one. I will be at my home having Easter dinner with family (visiting cousins) and friends (including Prison Break writer Kalinda Vazquez) -- it should be a nice weekend leading into an even better week of diving head-first into Season 4!" A network spokesperson however has told us the network has yet to officially announce any pickup.
SINGLE WHITE MILLIONAIRE (CBS) - Fred Savage ("Crumbs") has been tapped as the title role in the comedy pilot, about an unassuming millionaire (Savage) in his 30s who is ready to settle down. Savage's involvement lifts the casting contingency off the multi-camera pilot's production. Ricky Blitt created the half-hour, which is based at Warner Bros. Television.
SPACED (FOX) - Will Sasso ("Mad TV") and Federico Dordei ("Without a Trace") have both joined the cast of the comedy pilot, about two strangers (one played by Josh Lawson) who pose as a married couple in order to rent an apartment and become intimately involved with the other misfits in the building. Sasso will play Mike Watt, the guy's best friend who believes in government conspiracies, while Dordei is set as Brian Topp, a neighbor who is a struggling artist. Nick Frost and Mark Heap respectively originated the roles in the U.K. version. Charles Stone is directing the Warner Bros. Television-based half-hour from a script by Adam Barr. Granada International and Wonderland Sound and Vision are also co-producing.
SUBURBAN SHOOTOUT (HBO) - Barry Sonnenfeld ("Pushing Daisies") has been tapped to direct Michelle Ashford's comedy pilot, which received the firm go ahead this week. The project, which is based on the U.K. series of the same name, is a dark comedy about a woman who escapes the city for suburban bliss only to find herself caught between two rival gangs of homicidal housewives as they vie for control of their idyllic town. Ashford penned the adaptation and is executive producing (via her Round Two Productions) alongside Sonnenfeld (via his Right Coast Film Company) and Feelgood Fiction's Laurence Bowen and Philip Clarke.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
|
|
|
 [march 2026]  |
S |
M |
T |
W |
T |
F |
S |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
[03/17/26 - 12:02 PM]
Hudson Williams, Jennifer Grey, Terry Chen, Elizabeth Adams, Hannah Galway, and William Mapother Join the Cast of "The Altruists"
The Netflix series tells the story of Sam Bankman-Fried (Anthony Boyle) and Caroline Ellison (Julia Garner), two hyper-smart, ambitious young idealists who tried to remake the global financial system in the blink of an eye...before they were accused of stealing $8 billion.
|
[03/17/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of March 9 - "One Piece" Season 2 Sets Sail for No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
Proving that demand for prehistoric beasts will never go extinct, docuseries "The Dinosaurs" landed at No. 2 on the English TV list with 9.6 million views.
|
[03/17/26 - 12:01 PM]
Next on Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN - April 2026
New series include "Dear Killer Nannies," "Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair," "The Testaments," and "Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord."
|
[03/17/26 - 10:05 AM]
Chloe Bennet, Max Greenfield, Charlie Hall, Kumail Nanjiani, and Jarrad Paul Join Season 4 of "The White Lotus"
More arrivals await.
|
[03/17/26 - 10:01 AM]
"Stranger Things: Tales from '85" Coming to Select Theaters on April 18
The screenings of the first two episodes of the new series will take place on April 18 at 12:00 PM and 3:00 PM local time, in 34 theaters in the U.S. in partnership with AMC Theatres.
|
[03/17/26 - 09:31 AM]
Netflix Announces New True-Crime Documentary "The Crash" Premiering May 15
Gareth Johnson directed the film, produced by RAW (an All3Media company).
|
[03/17/26 - 09:01 AM]
Video: Sweet Niblets! Official Trailer Drops for "Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special"
The special will be released on Disney+ and Hulu on Tuesday, March 24 - 20 years to the day that the original series debuted on Disney Channel.
|
[03/17/26 - 08:24 AM]
Hulu Renews Hit Drama Series "Paradise," from Dan Fogelman and Starring Sterling K. Brown, for a Third Season
The show continues to resonate with audiences worldwide, amassing over 30M hours for S2 and nearly 12 billion minutes streamed globally across its first two seasons.
|
[03/17/26 - 08:01 AM]
"The Chi" Signs Off: First Look at the Eighth and Final Season on Paramount+
Production on the new season began in January, kicking off the road to the show's highly anticipated farewell.
|
[03/17/26 - 07:01 AM]
BritBox Announces Additional Casting, Start of Production for Season Three of Jimmy McGovern's Award-Winning Drama Series "Time"
The three-part drama will be led by David Tennant as Prison Officer Bailey with Siobhan Finneran reprising her role as Marie-Louise, a prison chaplain.
|
[03/17/26 - 07:01 AM]
Apple TV Announces "My Brother the Minotaur," Premiering April 24
A thrilling mix of folklore, mystery and adventure about a young minotaur - half boy, half bull - found and raised in the human world.
|
[03/17/26 - 07:01 AM]
Video: "Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Ghost War" - Official Teaser - Prime Video
Jack Ryan returns in a major movie event. Stream "Ghost War" - May 20 on Prime Video.
|
[03/17/26 - 06:45 AM]
Video: Paramount+ Reveals Trailer & Key Art for Men's College Basketball Docuseries, "Made for March"
The docuseries chronicles two of college basketball's most renowned programs - Kansas Jayhawks and Michigan Wolverines--this season in their bid for a national championship.
|
[03/17/26 - 06:31 AM]
Video: "Love on the Spectrum U.S." - Season 4 Official Trailer - Netflix
New and familiar faces star in this heartfelt documentary series that follows singles on the autism spectrum as they search for true love.
|
[03/17/26 - 06:01 AM]
New Four-Part Series "Shared Planet" Premieres Wednesdays, April 29-May 20, 2026 on PBS and PBS.org
In an age of serious environmental challenges, this four-part global series offers a look at an alternative and more hopeful future.
|
|
|
|
