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[12/21/07 - 06:31 PM]
Development Update: Week of December 17-21
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC) |
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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!
AMC ORIGINAL SERIES (AMC, New!) - The cable channel has added four new projects to its development slate. Said efforts will eventually result in one of two pilots the network plans to order next year. The other pilot will be based off its previously announced projects. As for the newcomers, they are: "Fort Smith," from "24's" Robert Cochran, about Isaiah Parker, who polices the Five Points - comprised of five different Indian tribes - with his posse in the lawless post-Civil War West; an untitled hour from Alison Anders and Terry Graham, about Comanche leader Quanah Parker, who fights the U.S. Army for the rights to his tribe's land; "Greenfields," from playwright Nicky Silver ("Raised in Captivity"), about a psychiatrist who breaks his patient out of jail; and "Uninvited Guest," from "Less Than Zero" screenwriter Harley Peyton and Mandalay's Peter Guber and Elizabeth Stephens, about a character who suffers from multiple personality disorder.
THE AMERICAN MALL (MTV, New!) - MTV is teaming with "High School Musical" producers Bill Borden and Barry Rosenbush for a romantic comedy/musical set at a mall in the vein of the Disney Channel sensation. Nina Dobrev and Rob Mayes will topline the project, about Ally, a high school grad/singer-songwriter (Dobrev), who battles to save her mother's music store and to keep the boy she loves (Mayes), a musically gifted young janitor who fronts a garage band. Autumn Reeser also stars as Ally's mean-girl adversary Madison, the spoiled and ruthless heiress to the owners of the mall, while Wade Allain-Marcus, Bianca Collins, Rodney To, Neil Haskell, Brooke Lyons, David Baum, Blythe Auffarth, Yassmin Alers, Bresha Webb, Neil Haskell and Al Sapienza round out the cast. Production is set to begin next month at a mall in Provo, Utah with Shawn Ku ("Pretty Dead Girl") directing. Borden is producing "Mall," which was originally set up as a feature at Columbia Pictures prior to "Musical's" release, with Rosenbush and Arata Matsushima serving as executive producers. "Mall" then will premiere this summer with a DVD release a couple of days later.
BACKYARDS & BULLETS (NBC) - The Peacock has opted not to move forward with the drama pilot, about a suburban Neighborhood Watch group gone awry. The news comes as a result of the network letting its options on the cast expire. The show's ensemble included Abigail Spencer, Billy Burke, Casey LaBow, Enuka Okuma, Jessalyn Gilsig, Kristen Lehman, Lou Diamond Phillips, Mathew St. Patrick and Richard Ruccolo. Charles McDougall directed the Sony Pictures Television/Pariah-based hour from a script by Ed Decter and John J. Strauss. Pariah's Gavin Polone and Jamie Tarses also served as executive producers.
COCO CHANEL (Lifetime, New!) - The cable channel is developing a biopic/mini-series about the famed fashion icon featuring Barbora Bobulova and Shirley MacLaine as the designer in the early and later periods of her life, respectively. Christian Duguay ("Human Trafficking") is on board to direct the Alchemy Television Group-based project, which is currently filming. Enrico Medioli ("Once Upon a Time in America") penned the script while Lux Vide SpA, Pampa Productions, Rai and France 2 are co-producing alongside Alchemy. The two-part effort, which is being done in cooperation with Chanel's estate, tracks her upbringing in an orphanage outside Paris through her move to reinvent herself in her 70s, after spending years in exile.
KAYA (MTV) - MTV development chief Tony DiSanto confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter this week the series, the network's first scripted effort in more than five years, won't be returning for a second season. "Kaya" opened its 10-episode run on Monday nights following "The Hills" before being banished to Saturday nights after failing to capitalize on said lead-in. DiSanto however was quick to note the network still plans to push forward in the scripted genre as several projects are in the works, including an untitled effort from Adam Ripp and Steven Wolfson as well as "Darius," from "Law & Order" veteran Michael S. Chernuchin.
SAINT OF CIRCUMSTANCE (FOX, New!) - "The Office" alum David Denman is set to topline a new single-camera comedy pilot for FOX about a man going through a midlife crisis who quits his dead-end office job to be a paramedic on the night shift. "Scrubs" star Zack Braff is in talks to direct the ABC Studios-based half-hour, which was created by Braff's brother, Adam ("Andrew Henry's Meadow"). Denman then will play the lead role of Wayne with the Braffs executive producing alongside Emile Levisetti. Production on the pilot is expected to begin after the WGA strikes concludes.
UNTITLED CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER PROJECT (ABC) - ABC Studios has extended the options on the entire cast of the multi-camera comedy pilot, about a family man (Cedric the Entertainer) who always has been the proud breadwinner but has difficulty adjusting when his wife's (Regina Hall) hobby turns into a multimillion-dollar enterprise. Production on the project, which also stars Charles Malik Whitfield, Jasmine McNeal, Melissa Peterman, Peter Mackenzie and Steven Wash, Jr., was completed in October. Ken Whittingham directed from a script by co-creators Cedric the Entertainer, Michael Soccio and Rock Reuben.
WIFE SWAP (ABC) - Lifetime's purchase of the show's off-network rights from Disney-ABC Domestic Television on Tuesday (read the story) is said to be valued at $250,000 per episode. The four-year pact, which begins in October, gives the cable channel the right to play reruns of the series twice a day.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
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[07/16/25 - 04:01 PM]
ESPN Airs Another of Its Most-Watched WNBA Games Ever: Indiana Fever vs Connecticut Sun Averaged 1.7 Million Viewers, Up 48% from Last Year's ESPN Average
Said telecast peaked with 2 million viewers.
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[07/16/25 - 12:23 PM]
FOX's Biblical Event Series "The Faithful" Casts Minnie Driver, Jeffrey Donovan and Natacha Karam
Plus: Danny Cannon has been tapped to direct and executive produce the premiere.
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[07/16/25 - 12:01 PM]
Emmy and BAFTA Award Nominee Jack Lowden Will Star in "Berlin Noir," Apple's Upcoming Adaptation of Philip Kerr's Bestselling Crime Novels
Germany, 1928. A newly-promoted detective. A string of gruesome murders. Welcome to Berlin Noir.
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[07/16/25 - 12:00 PM]
Video: "Murder 360" - Official Trailer - Paramount+
Stream the new original docuseries premiering August 5, exclusively on Paramount+.
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[07/16/25 - 11:00 AM]
"The Walking Dead: Dead City" to Return for Third Season, with "Walking Dead" Veteran Seth Hoffman Joining as Showrunner
Hoffman marks?his return to the Walking Dead Universe having spent three years as co-executive producer and writer on "The Walking Dead."
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[07/16/25 - 09:35 AM]
Video: FX's "Necaxa" - Official Trailer & Key Art Available Now
Eva Longoria teams up with Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds for FX's newest football docuseries following one of Mexico's oldest and most storied clubs, Club Necaxa.
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[07/16/25 - 09:07 AM]
The CW Network Picks Up Hit Drama Series "Sullivan's Crossing" for Season 4
The announcement follows the previously confirmed Season 4 renewal by Bell Media's CTV and Crave, and Fremantle.
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[07/16/25 - 09:01 AM]
"Geek Girl" Season 2 Start of Production Announcement
Joining the cast is Layton Williams, who will play the role of Onassis.
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[07/16/25 - 07:25 AM]
AXS TV Salutes the Female Trailblazers of Rock, Pop, Motown & More with the "Women in Music" Marathon, Airing August 2 & 3 Starting at 11A ET
From soulful songstresses and enduring pop queens, to the rock trailblazers who turned the boys' club upside down, AXS TV celebrates some of the most legendary female artists of all time.
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[07/16/25 - 07:06 AM]
The Nader Sisters Trade the Louisiana Bayou for New York City in New Reality Series "Love Thy Nader," Premiering on Hulu and Freeform
The bold coming-of-age reality series follows the unapologetic and determined Nader sisters - Brooks, Sarah Jane, Grace Ann and Mary Holland - who left their humble beginnings in the Louisiana bayou for the glamour and grind of New York City.
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[07/16/25 - 07:01 AM]
Video: "Stranger Things 5" - Official Teaser - Netflix
Every battle has led to this.
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[07/16/25 - 05:31 AM]
"Turn of the Tide" Is Back: The Second Season Arrives on Netflix October 17
In this new season, Eduardo (José Condessa), three months after his departure, returns to find a completely different reality in Rabo de Peixe.
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[07/16/25 - 02:01 AM]
Video: "Memento Mori" - Season 3 - Official Trailer - Prime Video
The final season arrives August 1 on Prime Video.
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[07/16/25 - 01:01 AM]
Video: "Love Is Blind: UK" Season 2 - Official Teaser - Netflix
A new batch of singles in the UK search for love sight unseen. Who will make it from the pods, to living together, to all the way up the aisle?
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[07/15/25 - 02:46 PM]
Apple Lands Record-Breaking 81 Emmy Award Nominations with "Severance" Leading As This Year's Most-Nominated Series and "The Studio" Becoming the Most-Nominated Freshman Comedy in History
Additionally, with top program nominations for drama "Slow Horses" and comedy "Shrinking," Apple TV+ becomes the only network to have multiple titles nominated in the Outstanding Comedy and Drama series categories.
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