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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!
ACTION NEWS (TBA, New!) - Emmy-winners Kelsey Grammer ("Frasier") and Patricia Heaton ("Everybody Loves Raymond") reportedly are in talks to topline a potential new comedy from 20th Century Fox Television. Steven Levitan ("Stacked") and Christopher Lloyd ("Out of Practice") are behind the half-hour, which would revolve around a male and female anchor team (Grammer, Heaton) at a local TV station. It's understood the studio is trying to nail down deals with the actors before shopping the project to the various networks. Should it move forward, "News" would mark the first major production for Levitan and Lloyd's new 20th-based production banner.
Commitment: Script
Cast: Kelsey Grammer, Patricia Heaton
Writer: Christopher Lloyd, Steven Levitan
Director: TBA
Executive Producers: Christopher Lloyd, Steven Levitan
Studio: 20th Century Fox Television
CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM (HBO)/MY BOYS (TBS) - Pariah's Gavin Polone and Jamie Tarses have parted ways as each has signed overall deals with HBO and Sony Pictures Television respectively. The pair however will continue to oversee their various projects on the air and in development - such as NBC's "The Watch" and David O. Russell's untitled project for FX. Polone's pact with HBO calls for him to develop new series projects for the network as well as covers his duties on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and the upcoming "Tell Me You Love Me." As for Tarses, she'll launch her own company under the Sony umbrella as part of her 18 month pact (which has an option for an additional year). In addition, she'll continue to executive produce the Sony/Pariah-based "My Boys."
THE CURE (FOX, New!) - Oscar-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman ("A Beautiful Mind") has scored a pilot order from FOX for a new drama about a group that cuts through the red tape of medical bureaucracy - often at their own peril - to get care to those who need it most. Patrick Massett and John Zinman ("Friday Night Lights") penned the Warner Bros. Television-based hour and will executive produce alongside Goldsman via his Weed Road Pictures banner. Brittany Lovett and Stephanie Koff also serve as co-executive producers.
Commitment: Ordered to pilot
Cast: TBA
Writers: John Zinman, Patrick Massett
Director: TBA
Executive Producers: Akiva Goldsman (Weed Road Pictures), John Zinman, Patrick Massett
Co-Executive Producers: Brittany Lovett, Stephanie Koff
Studio: Warner Bros. Television
FORT PIT (NBC) - James Badge Dale ("24") has been cast in the lead role of the drama pilot, about one of the worst, most crime-ridden NYPD precincts in Brooklyn, where bad cops are sent to live out their careers and rookie cops with no connections are stationed. He'll play Bobby Bonelli, who's detailed in the casting notice as follows: "23, Fit, handsome. He's fresh out of the police academy and has just been assigned to the infamous 74th Precinct, nicknamed "Fort Pit" by the cops who serve there. At the top of his class, Bonelli is an anomaly among this checkered crew, most of whom were assigned to the 74th as a punishment after various infractions. However, as we soon learn, Bonelli has been assigned to Fort Pit for an undercover assignment -- namely, to clean up the notoriously corrupt precinct. Squeaky clean and intensely idealistic, he soon goes toe-to-toe with the legendary Jack Cade, a highly decorated veteran who clashes violently with his young colleague. But whether Bonelli will succeed in changing the climate on the force, or whether the job will ultimately take its toll on his principles -- principles which may be impossibly high-minded when applied to the harsh realities of his profession -- remains to be seen."
Commitment: Ordered to pilot
Cast: James Badge Dale (Bobby Bonelli)
Writers: Michael Chernuchin, Peter Tolan
Director: Peter Tolan
Executive Producers: Denis Leary (Apostle Productions), Jim Serpico (Apostle Productions), Michael Chernuchin, Peter Tolan
Producers: Lou DiGiamo, Robert Cea
Studio: Sony Pictures Television
HEROES (NBC) - Eric Roberts ("Less Than Perfect") is the latest addition to the popular Monday night drama. He'll play Thompson, a new associate of Jack Coleman's character. It's not clear when his first episode will air.
K-VILLE (FOX, New!) - Jonathan Lisco ("Jack & Bobby") has booked a pilot commitment from FOX for a New Orleans-based drama about two cops of different racial backgrounds who have very different takes on how the city should be dealing with its problems post-Katrina. Lisco penned the pilot script to the 20th Century Fox Television-based hour and will executive produce.
Commitment: Ordered to pilot
Cast: TBA
Writer: Jonathan Lisco
Director: TBA
Executive Producers: Jonathan Lisco
Studio: 20th Century Fox Television
THE MASTERSONS OF MANHATTAN (NBC, New!) - The Peacock has given a pilot order to a new sitcom from writer/producer Gary Janetti ("Will & Grace"). The NBC Universal Television-based half-hour is a soapy sitcom about two sisters in a socially prominent family in New York. Janetti wrote the script and will executive produce.
Commitment: Ordered to pilot
Cast: TBA
Writer: Gary Janetti
Director: TBA
Executive Producers: Gary Janetti
Studio: NBC Universal Television Studio
THE RETURN OF JEZEBEL JAMES (FOX) - "Gilmore Girls" alum Scott Cohen is set to reteam with creator Amy Sherman-Palladino on the comedy project, about two estranged sisters who reunite after one of them, Coco, agrees to carry the baby of the other one, Sarah. He'll play Marcus, a charming confirmed bachelor whose relationship with Sarah is all about nice dinners, fancy drinks and sex.
Commitment: Ordered to pilot
Cast:
Writer: Amy Sherman-Palladino
Director: Amy Sherman-Palladino
Executive Producers: Amy Sherman-Palladino (Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions)
Studio: Regency Television
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
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