[01/09/12 - 10:55 PM] Development Update: Monday, January 9 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!
BEN FOX IS MY MANNY (FOX) - The network has greenlit a pilot for Dana Fox's single-camera comedy, about "a mother who hires her brother to serve as a 'manny' to her children." Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope also serve as executive producers on the half-hour, which is set up at the duo's 20th Century Fox Television-based Chernin Entertainment. (Variety.com)COPPER (BBC America) - Irish actor Kevin Ryan has snagged a role on the upcoming period drama, which centers on Kevin Corcoran (Tom Weston-Jones), an intense, rugged Irish-immigrant cop working New York City's notorious Five Points neighborhood in the 1860s. He'll play Francis Maguire, a detective working alongside Corcoran. Anastasia Griffith, Franka Potente and Kyle Schmid also star in the project, from executive producers Barry Levinson, Christina Wayne, Tom Fontana and Will Rokos. (THR.com)ELIZABETH & RICHARD: A LOVE STORY (Lifetime) - Lindsay Lohan is reportedly in talks to play Elizabeth Taylor in the original movie, which chronicles the enduring love of entertainment legends Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, whose fiery romance was the most notorious, publicized and celebrated love affair of its day. Christopher Monger ("Temple Grandin") penned the project, to be produced by Larry Thompson ("Amish Grace"). (Deadline.com)GUILTY (FOX) - Marc Guggenheim and Greg Berlanti's legal drama, about "a defense attorney who takes on tough cases and seeks to track down the people who had him falsely convicted of fraud," has been ordered to pilot by the network. Guggenheim penned the script and is executive producing alongside Berlanti for Warner Bros. Television. (Variety.com)LIVING LOADED (FOX, New!) - Rob McElhenney and Rob Rosell have snagged a pilot order from the network for a new single-camera comedy based on Dan Dunn's book of the same name about "a hard-partying blogger who changes his ways when he becomes the host a radio show." McElhenney and Rosell penned the script and are executive producing alongside Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Michael Rotenberg and Nick Frenkel for FX Productions-based RCG with Dunn serving as a supervising producer. (Deadline.com)UNTITLED KEVIN WILLIAMSON PROJECT (FOX) - FOX has ordered the Kevin Williamson-penned hour, about "a serial killer who uses social media to create a network of murderers as he's being hunted by an FBI agent," to pilot. Warner Bros. Television is producing the project, which previously had a put pilot commitment. (Variety.com)AND IN OTHER NEWS... - A&E Networks is developing a mini-series based on the Depression Era outlaws Bonnie & Clyde (TVLine.com); Amy Poehler will write and direct the 20th episode of "Parks & Recreation" this season while Paul Rudd will potentially turn up as Leslie Knope's opponent for city council (TVLine.com,NYMag.com); Geri Jewel will guest on "Alcatraz" as the eccentric sister of Jason Butler Harner's deputy prison warden E.B. Tiller (TVLine.com); Perrey Reeves is bound for "NCIS" as the former fiancee of Michael Weatherly's Tony DiNozzo (TVGuide.com); Miranda Lambert will make her acting debut on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" as "an actress who claims to have been sexually assaulted by a reality show producer" (TVGuide.com); Dermot Mulroney has been tapped as the latest love interest for Zooey Deschanel's Jess on "New Girl"(TVLine.com); Erin Richards is in talks to join the cast of "Breaking In" as the executive assistant to Megan Mullally's new boss lady Veronica Mann (TVLine.com); and Train will perform their newest single "Drive By" on a late February installment of "90210"(EW.com).
