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[01/11/08 - 06:17 PM]
Development Update: Week of January 7-11
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!
30 DAYS (FX) - Host/executive producer Morgan Spurlock has inked a two-year overall deal with Fox Television Studios. The pact calls for the prolific filmmaker to develop series projects - both for broadcast and new media - for the company via his Warrior Poets banner. He'll also continue his work on the FX series, a co-production of Reveille and Actual Reality, which will roll out its third season sometime this year. Separately, Spurlock is set to debut his new film "Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?" at Sundance later this month.
A&E ORIGINAL SERIES (A&E) - The cable channel is moving forward with three new original series, all of which are expected to roll out in the coming months. First up is "Crime 360" (Base Productions, 17 episodes), a one-hour effort that uses CGI visualizations and state-of-the-art 3-D photography to look at the evidence in investigations of actual crimes. Next is the half-hour "Manhunters: Fugitive Task Force" (Stars & Stripes Media, 11 episodes), which focuses on the work of a Manhattan-based federal agency whose job is to join with state and local agencies to track down dangerous felons on the lam in the greater New York/New Jersey area. Finally, there's "Rookies," a docusoap which tracks a group of recent police academy graduates in their first year on the job. A&E plans to air the series as two separate incarnations - one in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana (Tiger Aspect USA, eight episodes) and another in Tampa, Florida (The Greif Co., eight episodes). The executive producers of the aforementioned projects are John Brenkus and Mickey Stern on "Crime 360," Gary Tarpinian, Stuart Goodman and Vincent Scarza on "Manhunters," Charles Brand, Jamie Munro, Lawrence Cumbo and Christine Connor on the Jefferson Parish edition of "Rookies" and Leslie Greif and Adam Reed on the Tampa edition of "Rookies." For A&E, Rob Sharenow and Laura Fleury will executive produce "Crime 360" and "Manhunters" with Sharenow, Neil A. Cohen and Stephen Harris on "Rookies" (Jefferson Parish) and Sharenow, Cohen and Andy Berg on "Rookies" (Tampa).
APATOW PRODUCTIONS (New!) - Filmmaker Judd Apatow, the mind behind the cult series "Freaks and Geeks" and "Undeclared," has inked a first-look deal with 20th Century Fox Television. The pact gives the studio first crack at any of Apatow's TV efforts. In addition, former 20th executive Nicholas Weinstock has been tapped as the head of development for Apatow's self-titled banner.
DIRT (FX) - The cable channel has announced the show's second season will bow on Sunday, March 2 at 10:00/9:00c. Its return however will be short-lived: only seven of 13 ordered episodes were completed before the WGA strike.
INSEPARABLE (FOX) - Shaun Cassidy's ("Invasion") drama script, previously set up at CBS for 2003-04 season consideration, is being redeveloped by FOX and ABC Studios. The project, a modern-day Jekyll and Hyde tale about a partially paralyzed forensic psychiatrist with a split personality whose alter ego is a charismatic criminal, was resurrected by the studio as part of his overall deal. In an interesting twist however, FOX has given the go ahead to cast the hour despite Cassidy not turning in a revised draft of the script due to the WGA strike. No official pilot order however will be given until Cassidy's updated script is completed.
SONS OF ANARCHY (A.K.A. FOREVER SAM CROW) (FX) - Charlie Hunnam, Scott Glenn and Katey Sagal have all been cast in the pilot, a drama set in the world of motorcycle clubs. Hunnam will play the lead role of Jackson "Jax" Teller, who's described in the casting notice as follows: "25-33, Caucasian. Handsome in a broken cowboy kind of way, an expert mechanic with lots of tattoos and scars on his arms, he is the vice-president of SAMCRO, and is the son of the founder, John Teller. The motorcycle club life is all he has ever known, but Jax is starting to have his doubts -- doubts that could invalidate the last 32 years of his life. Jax is a paradox on two wheels: he's intelligent, sensitive and reflective, yet quick-tempered and dangerously reactive, a man who can anguish over his sick child yet drive a pool cue into an enemy's groin. Jax's enemies are multiplying these days: rival Latin and White Supremacist gangs have joined forces to rip off SAMCRO's stash of weapons. The father of a premature baby (born too soon because his pregnant ex-wife Wendy took too many drugs while carrying the baby), Jax has been studying his late father's journals, and he's begun to question SAMCRO's "outlaw = criminal" business model. He begins to foster a belief that his club's commitment to the MC lifestyle may not have to include selling arms. But this shift in philosophy seems destined to bring him into deadly confrontation with his foster father, Clay Morrow." Glenn then is set as Jack's aforementioned stepfather, the president and patriarch of the club, with Sagal as Jack's mother and the matriarch of the club. In addition, Allen Coulter has signed on to direct the hour while Fox 21 has been tapped to co-produce alongside FX Productions. Kurt Sutter penned the pilot script and is executive producing alongside Art Linson and John Linson. Production is set to begin in mid-February.
THE TWO COREYS (A&E) - The network has renewed the Corey Haim/Corey Feldman series for a second season of 10 half-hour episodes. RDF USA ("Wife Swap") and Tijuana Entertainment ("Breaking Bonaduce") are behind the project, which is expected to return sometime in the spring. Haim and Feldman, longtime friends best known for their various 1980s films, were last seen feuding at the end of season one and apparently have not seen each other since. The new season then will pick up as they finally reunite and decide whether to work through their differences or part ways. While exact numbers weren't released, A&E noted the show's first season delivered a 28% and 40% growth from the network's primetime average among adults 25-54 and 18-49, respectively. Feldman and Haim also serve as executive producers alongside RDF's Greg Goldman, Chris Coelen and Tony Yates; Tijuana's Troy Searer and John Foy; and A&E's Rob Sharenow, Michael Morrison and Scott Lonker.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
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[03/04/15 - 03:03 PM]
Nickelodeon Renews Two Live-Action Hits "Bella and the Bulldogs" and "The Thundermans"
Year-to-date, "Bella and the Bulldogs" is the number-one show on Nickelodeon with premieres averaging two million total viewers.
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[03/04/15 - 01:43 PM]
Taryn Manning, Raymond Cruz, Samantha Droke, Katie Sarife, Pam Grier and Joe Morton Star in the Lifetime(R) Original Movie "Cleveland Abduction" Premiering April 25
The film explores the true story of Michelle Knight, a 21-year-old single mom whose life was irrevocably changed by a chance encounter with an unsuspected criminal.
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[03/04/15 - 12:39 PM]
Adventure Junkies Take Off-the-Beaten Path and Brave Nature's Extreme Elements in Animal Planet's "100 Miles from Nowhere"
Beginning Sunday, April 5, weekend adventurer Matt Galland and his adrenaline-fueled best buddies Danny Bryson and Blake Josephson venture to some of the most untouched pockets of the planet where cameras - let alone people - rarely have gone.
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[03/04/15 - 11:38 AM]
National Geographic Channel and Acclaimed Actor Kal Penn Explore the Hidden Ways Information, Data and Maps Provide Insight Into the World Around Us... And Our Daily Lives
"The Big Picture with Kal Penn" launches Monday, March 30 at 9:00/8:00c on the network.
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[03/04/15 - 11:30 AM]
Starz Releases New, Darker Key Art for Continuation of "Outlander" Season One
The series returns with the remaining eight episodes from season one beginning on Saturday, April 4 at 9:00/8:00c.
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[03/04/15 - 11:10 AM]
Eight New Episodes to Be Presented Over Four Days of "Tune in 4 What?!" Programming Event, March 26-29 on Disney Channel
Each episode in the "Tune In 4 What?!" event will be available to verified viewers on WATCH Disney Channel the morning of its premiere.
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[03/04/15 - 10:15 AM]
TNT Extends "Cold Justice" with Additional Spring & Summer Episodes, Plus Two New Justice Served Specials Hosted by John Walsh
The show's winter finale is set for March 6, with the spring episodes slated to launch April 10.
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[03/04/15 - 10:01 AM]
From Rainn Wilson's Production Company SoulPancake, "Impress Me" Set To Make Exclusive Television Premiere Wednesday, March 18 on Pop
The scripted comedy centers on celebrity impressionists Ross Marquand and Jim Meskimen who are trying to quit doing impressions and transition into serious, dramatic actors.
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[03/04/15 - 09:18 AM]
Netflix and Leonardo DiCaprio to Partner on Upcoming Documentary Projects
Netflix and DiCaprio will work together to identify and develop potential fact-based projects, with a particular focus on environmental and conservation themes, including original documentaries and docu-series as well as acquired existing projects.
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[03/04/15 - 09:04 AM]
ABC Entertainment and Marvel Television Launch "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Double Agent" on MarvelsDoubleAgent.com, ABC.com and the WATCH ABC App
The five-part original web series follows the actions of a newly hired production assistant who is actually working as a double agent on behalf of an unknown enemy known only as The Mastermind.
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[03/04/15 - 09:02 AM]
TV One to Premiere Original Film "Hear No Evil" Starring Jahnee Wallace, Jill Marie Jones, Richard T. Jones and Jackie Long
Russ Parr, from Up To Parr Productions, serves as the Director and Screenwriter.
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[03/04/15 - 08:50 AM]
NBC Dominates the Night, "Voice" Delivers Its Second-Most-Watched Tuesday Ever
NBC spins the numbers for Tuesday, March 3.
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[03/04/15 - 08:37 AM]
Tuesday's Broadcast Ratings: "The Voice," "Chicago Fire" Claim Top Spots
The latter gets a boost from a two-hour edition of the former.
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[03/04/15 - 07:32 AM]
ESPNU Celebrates Its 10th Anniversary Today
ESPNU is ESPN's fifth network, preceded by ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic, and ESPNEWS.
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[03/04/15 - 07:31 AM]
ESPN, NHL & NHLPA Reach Agreement for 2016 World Cup
The World Cup will take place at Toronto's Air Canada Centre from September 17 - October 1, 2016 and will culminate with a best-of-three final.
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