or


[01/24/06 - 12:00 AM]
Development Update: January 23-24
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 newly branded "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!

THE 12TH MAN (A.K.A. UNTITLED TIM STORY COMEDY PROJECT) (FOX) - FOX has given a pilot order to director Tim Story ("Fantastic Four") and writer Dan Fogelman's ("Like Family") comedy project for the network. The single-camera half-hour revolves around a pro basketball player who's not quite good enough to get much court time and feels marginalized as a result. Fogelman is writing the pilot script to the project, which is based on former pro basketball player Paul Shirley's blog "My So-Called NBA Career" on ESPN.com. Story then will direct and executive produce the 20th Century Fox Television-based half-hour along with Fogelman. Shirley himself will also serve as a producer.

ENEMIES (ABC) - Sean Bailey's ("Push, Nevada") long-in-the-works drama project for the Alphabet has been given the green light to produce a pilot. Said hour revolves around two Chicago-based best friends who grow up to become mortal enemies - one's a top player at the F.B.I. while the other's a mob boss. Bailey wrote the pilot and will executive produce the project for Touchstone Television along with Ken Olin ("Alias").

LOST (ABC) - The show's 11 remaining original cast members - Naveen Andrews, Emilie de Ravin, Matthew Fox, Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway, Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim, Evangeline Lilly, Dominic Monaghan, Terry O�Quinn and Harold Perrineau - will all reportedly receive a pay bump next season, with each raking in almost $80,000 an episode. The news marks a significant jump from their current salaries, which are said to range from $20,000-$40,000 per installment. In addition, each actor is expected to agree to a one-year extension on their standard five-year contracts as part of the deal with Touchstone Television however there are no guarantees about the length of their tenure on the show. Finally, recent Golden Globe nominee Fox is also understood to have earned an extra bonus of at least $250,000. To date this season, "Lost" has averaged a whopping 16.76 million viewers as well as finished 2005 as the second-best-selling TV-DVD with 1.04 million units sold and helped drive the 1.5 million video downloads off of Apple's iTunes music store.

MY NAME IS EARL (NBC) - Production on the hit NBC comedy has been suspended as series star Jason Lee recovers from the chicken pox. The break, which is expected to last a few weeks, won't affect the show's air schedule as the Peacock is preparing to launch its 17-day coverage of the Winter Olympics starting February 10.

OCTOBER ROAD (ABC, New!) - Feature writer Scott Rosenberg ("High Fidelity") is set to team with Andre Nemec ("Fastlane") and Josh Appelbaum ("Alias") for a new drama at the Alphabet and Touchstone Television about a Manhattan-based screenwriter who moves back home to his small New England hometown, where he becomes a teacher and must readjust to life with his family and old friends. Gary Fleder ("Don't Say a Word") is also on board to direct and executive produce the project (via his Mojo Films banner), which ABC has given a pilot order.

PRIMARY (A.K.A. UNTITLED TIM STORY DRAMA PROJECT) (FOX) - Writer/producer Craig Silverstein ("The Dead Zone") has scored a pilot order for "Primary," a new drama which centers on a man and a woman who dance around their budding relationship while focusing on their jobs as hostage negotiators. Feature director Tim Story ("Fantastic Four") is on board to direct and executive produce the 20th Century Fox Television-based hour along with Silverstein.

SIX DEGREES (ABC) - Rodrigo Garcia, who's helmed the pilots to both "Big Love" and "Carnivale" at HBO, has signed on to direct the drama pilot, about a group of six young college grads whose lives intertwine in various ways. Raven Metzner, Stu Zicherman, J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk and Thom Sherman are behind the hour, which is set up at Touchstone Television and Bad Robot. (Note: A previous version of this report indicated Garcia would direct both "Nine Lives" and "Six Degress." Said information, taken from The Hollywood Reporter, turned out to be incorrect. We apologize for the error.)

UNTITLED SHONDA RHIMES PROJECT (ABC, New!) - "Grey's Anatomy" creator Shonda Rhimes is developing a new drama at ABC and producers Touchstone Television and the Mark Gordon Co. about four female journalists from different media who travel the country. The project, which is being targeted for midseason next year, is said to be derived from a script Rhimes penned during the 2002-03 development season. Rhimes and Gordon then will executive produce the hour along with Betsy Beers and Julie Lynn.

Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters





  [january 2006]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S


· 12TH MAN, THE (FOX)
· ALIAS (ABC)
· BIG LOVE (HBO)
· CARNIVALE (HBO)
· CORRESPONDENTS (ABC)
· DEAD ZONE, THE (USA)
· ENEMIES (ABC)
· FASTLANE (FOX)
· GREY'S ANATOMY (ABC)
· LIKE FAMILY (WB)
· LOST (ABC)
· MY NAME IS EARL (NBC)
· NINE, THE (ABC)
· OCTOBER ROAD (ABC)
· PUSH, NEVADA (ABC)
· SIX DEGREES (ABC)
· STANDOFF (FOX)





[12/16/25 - 02:30 PM]
CBS News Will Air a Special Report for President Donald J. Trump's Live Primetime Address to the Nation from the White House, Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 9:00 PM, ET
The "Survivor" finale (starting at 8:00 PM, ET/PT) will resume where it left off immediately following the president's address for Eastern and Central Time Zone viewers on the CBS Television Network and air in its entirety.

[12/16/25 - 02:15 PM]
FOX NFL Week 15 Scores 19.4 Million Viewers for "America's Game of the Week"
Season-to-date, the NFL on FOX is averaging 20,055,000 viewers; up +8% over last year's average (18,630,000) and its best since 2015.

[12/16/25 - 02:15 PM]
"CBS News Presents: A Town Hall with Erika Kirk" Boosts CBS' Time Period Performance in Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49
The special delivered 1.9 million viewers with 265,000 in the adults 25-54 demographic on Saturday, December 13.

[12/16/25 - 01:57 PM]
ESPN's Signature MegaCast Presentation Returns for College Football Playoff First Round Presented by Allstate
ESPN will present more than a dozen total offerings during the two First Round games of the 12-team College Football Playoff on Friday, December 19 and Saturday, December 20.

[12/16/25 - 01:33 PM]
Next on Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN - January 2026
Highlights include new seasons of "Tell Me Lies" and "A Thousand Blows" plus the premieres of "The Beauty" and "Wonder Man."

[12/16/25 - 01:04 PM]
FX's "Seven Sisters" Ordered to Series on Hulu
Elizabeth Olsen, Cristin Milioti and J. Smith-Cameron lead the new family drama featuring Anthony Edwards, Meredith Hagner, Odessa Young, Zoë Winters, Bridget Brown, Carolyn Kettig, Philip Ettinger, and Ryan Eggold.

[12/16/25 - 12:02 PM]
Video: "Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story" - Official Trailer - Netflix
People sought her guidance - then came her child abuse arrest with mom influencer Ruby Franke. Unpack the chilling case of therapist Jodi Hildebrandt.

[12/16/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of December 8 - "Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery" Cracks the Case at No. 1 in the Top 10
New comedy series "Man vs. Baby" took No. 1 on the English TV list with 19.1 million views, with the Rowan Atkinson vehicle eliciting laughs over the bumbling Trevor Bingley trying to earn money house-sitting for millionaires while a lost baby keeps him on his toes.

[12/16/25 - 11:01 AM]
Video: Trailer & Key Art - Hulu Original Series "The Artful Dodger" Season 2
The comedy-adventure series starring Thomas Brodie-Sangster, David Thewlis and Maia Mitchell returns for season two on February 10 on Hulu and Disney+.

[12/16/25 - 10:01 AM]
Snoop Dogg to Headline Lions-Vikings with "Snoop's Holiday Halftime Party" During NFL Christmas Gameday Live on Netflix
Snoop Dogg takes the reins at halftime, promising chart-topping tracks, plenty of holiday spirit, and special guests, making for what is sure to be an unforgettable performance.

[12/16/25 - 09:52 AM]
Video: "The Life of Chuck" - Trailer - Hulu
From author Stephen King and director Mike Flanagan, the film - starring Tom Hiddleston, Jacob Tremblay, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Karen Gillan - streams December 26.

[12/16/25 - 09:08 AM]
MGM+ Greenlights Series Adaptation of Iconic Western "The Magnificent Seven"
After a peaceful Quaker village is massacred by mercenaries working for a greedy and ruthless land baron trying to force them off the land he covets, seven gifted but flawed mercenaries are hired by the community to protect them from the land baron's hired guns.

[12/16/25 - 09:01 AM]
"Miss Austen" Returns for Season 2 on "Masterpiece"
This newest season is largely based on Gill Hornby's latest novel, "The Elopement," which further delves into the family life of Jane and Cassandra Austen.

[12/16/25 - 09:00 AM]
Meet the 11 New Survivalists and the Families Who Hold Their Fate as FOX's Survival Competition Series "Extracted" Returns for Season Two
Only one competitor and their family will endure it all and walk away with a life-changing quarter million dollar grand prize!

[12/16/25 - 09:00 AM]
CBS Announces "Christina Aguilera: Christmas in Paris," A New Holiday Special Airing Monday, Dec. 22 on CBS and Paramount+
Filmed in front of an intimate audience above the Musée du Quai Branly, Aguilera performs both holiday classics and her career hits against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower, fashioned into a shimmering Christmas tree.