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[02/08/08 - 06:21 PM] Development Update: Week of February 4-8 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!
THE BIG MATCH (Lifetime, New!) - Paul Buccieri's Granada America has landed a pilot order from the cable channel for a new game show in which 100 single men compete for a dream date with one woman. Cat Deeley ("So You Think You Can Dance") is already on board to host the project, which was created by Michael Agbabian and Dwight Smith ("Phenomenon"). Buccieri will presumably executive produce the pilot alongside Agbabian and Smith. No other specifics however were given.
FRINGE (FOX) - Joshua Jackson ("Dawson's Creek") has scored the final principal role on the two-hour drama pilot, about an FBI agent Olivia Warren (Anna Torv) who teams with an institutionalized scientist (John Noble), to confront the spread of unexplained phenomena. Jackson will play Peter Bishop, the estranged son of Noble's character, a high-school dropout with an IQ of 190 and a misfit who is scrambling to erase a gambling debt. J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Alex Graves are all behind the Warner Bros. Television/Bad Robot-based project, which also stars Blair Brown, Lance Reddick, Kirk Acevedo, Mark Valley and Jasika Nicole. Production is underway in Toronto with the quartet executive producing alongside Bad Robot's Bryan Burk.
THE GOODE FAMILY (ABC, New!) - "King of the Hill's" Mike Judge, John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky are set to re-team for a new animated series at the Alphabet about a family obsessed with doing the "right" thing - environmentally, politically or socially - only to have their efforts result in unintended comedic consequences. The network has given a blind 13-episode commitment to the project, which is based at indie production company Media Rights Capital. Judge is expected to voice several characters on the show, including the family's father. He'll also executive produce alongside Altschuler, Krinsky and 3 Arts Entertainment's Michael Rotenberg and Tom Lassally. The news marks ABC's first on-air animated commitment since 2000's short-lived "Clerks."
INSIDE THE NFL (HBO) - HBO has pulled the plug on the veteran NFL highlights show after 31 seasons with its final episode airing this past Wednesday. "It has been a terrific franchise," HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg said in a statement. "But the television landscape has changed quite a bit over the last 30 years, and we have to recognize the realities of the business." Among said realities - "a whopping $8 million per year for the rights to use the highlights of NFL games," according to Profootballtalk.com's Mike Florio. "Add to that estimated annual production costs of $20 million, and that's a hefty price tag for any network to pay." The NFL nevertheless is in talks with "three or four other unnamed outlets" to find a new home for the franchise. It's not clear however if co-hosts Bob Costas, Dan Marino, Cris Collinsworth and Cris Carter will make the transition to any new incarnation.
KROD MANDOON (Comedy Central, New!) - Media Rights Capital has booked a six-episode commitment from the network for a new workplace comedy set in the Middle Ages. Peter Knight is behind the project, which is expected to roll out in early 2009. Additional specifics however weren't released.
THE LIFE & TIMES OF TIM (HBO) - The pay channel has given a 10-episode order to Steve Dilderian's animated comedy, about a single, offbeat guy (who he also voices) living in New York City whose instincts lead him down the wrong paths in life. The project was previously set up at FOX, who commissioned a pilot presentation last season. Media Rights Capital has subsequently taken over the distribution from Warner Bros. Television, who will still maintain a passive stake in the show. It's not clear if the original voice ensemble - Bob Morrow, Cheri Oteri, Kurtwood Smith, Matt Johnson, MJ Otto and Nick Kroll - is returning for the HBO incarnation. Production nevertheless is underway for a potential summer start with Dilderian, Tom Werner, Jimmy Miller and Mike Clements executive producing. The news likewise marks HBO's first animated effort since 1997-99's "Spawn."
THE MAN OF YOUR DREAMS (NBC) - Constance Zimmer ("Entourage"), Christina Chang ("CSI: Miami"), RonReaco Lee ("Committed") and Justina Machado ("Six Feet Under") have all joined the cast of the multi-camera comedy pilot, about a womanizer named Larry (Michael Trucco) who uses his expertise to help romantically challenged women. Zimmer will play Liza, the brother of Trucco's character, a smart, hardworking divorcee who is single-handedly raising her teen daughter while running her own wedding-planning business. Chang then is set as Malinda, a hot, twice-divorced woman and a gold digger who "carries her shovel proudly" with Lee as Larry's protege Mitch, a "Star Wars" buff, and Machado as Sheryl, Liza's friend and business partner, an attractive but somewhat curvy divorced woman. Jay Lacopo is behind the Universal Media Studios/Conaco-based half-hour, which he's executive producing alongside Conan O'Brien, David Kissinger and Jeff Ross.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
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[12/08/25 - 12:01 PM] Netflix's "My Life with the Walter Boys" Welcomes New Cast Members for Season 3 Chad Rook, Naveen Paddock, and Erin Karpluk will recur on the upcoming season.
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[12/08/25 - 11:30 AM] College Football on The CW Network Sees Double Digit Year-Over-Year Viewership Gains for 2025 Season ACC football experienced the largest year-over-year growth, up 26% in total audience compared to 2024.
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[12/08/25 - 10:07 AM] Video: Peacock Releases Official Trailer, Key Art and New Imagery for "The Copenhagen Test" Simu Liu, Melissa Barrera, Sinclair Daniel, Brian d'Arcy James, Mark O'Brien, and Kathleen Chalfant star in the series, due on December 27.
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[12/08/25 - 10:01 AM] Video: "Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart" - Official Trailer - Netflix In the early hours of June 5, 2002, 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was abducted from her bedroom in Salt Lake City, Utah, igniting one of the most intense and widely covered missing-person cases in American history.
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[12/08/25 - 10:00 AM] HBO Original Comedy Series "Rooster," Starring Steve Carell, From Bill Lawrence and Matt Tarses, Debuts March 2026 A comedy set on a college campus centering on an author's (Carell) complicated relationship with his daughter (Charly Clive).
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[12/08/25 - 09:58 AM] Wonder Project Reveals First-Look Images and Premiere Date for Upcoming Family Drama Series Starring Scott Foley, "It's Not Like That" The family drama series starring Scott Foley will premiere with the first two episodes on Wonder Project's subscription on Prime Video on January 25, with subsequent episodes of the eight-episode season debuting weekly thereafter.
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[12/08/25 - 09:45 AM] Netflix Acquires Rights to Emily Giffin's Bestseller "All We Ever Wanted" for Series Adaptation Development A soapy and scandalous drama that uncovers the secrets and class struggles of a wealthy suburb; where a torrid love affair between a "have" Mom and "have-not" single Dad threatens to expose the sins and lies of all of those around them.
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[12/08/25 - 09:02 AM] Video: NBC Debuts Official Trailer, Key Art, and New Images for Season 2 of "The Hunting Party" Guest stars this season include Eric McCormack, Finnigan McCormack, Kelsey Grammer, Niecy Nash-Betts, Liz Gillies, Jefferson White, and more.
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[12/08/25 - 09:02 AM] "Alaska State Troopers" Returns for All-New Season on A&E Beginning January 7 at 8pm ET/PT The series, which ran for eight seasons on cable from 2009-2015, gives an inside look at the law enforcement teams who serve and protect the communities in Alaska's vast territory.
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[12/08/25 - 08:32 AM] ESPN Unveils More MLB Game Selections for Key Dates in 2026 ESPN will begin its new 30-game regular season slate on Wednesday, April 15 - MLB Jackie Robinson Day - when it exclusively airs the New York Mets vs. reigning World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers game from Dodger Stadium at 10 p.m. ET.
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[12/08/25 - 08:30 AM] Hit Acorn TV Original Crime Drama "My Life Is Murder," Starring Lucy Lawless, Returns Monday, January 5 Starring Lucy Lawless as the fearless and unapologetic investigator Alexa Crowe, the eight-episode season features a slew of puzzling cases ranging from shady aquariums and elite cheer squads to creepy dolls and deadly island getaways.
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[12/08/25 - 08:01 AM] Video: "Miss Scarlet" Season 6 - Trailer Can Eliza juggle the demands of her personal and professional life?
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[12/08/25 - 07:16 AM] Marcello Hernandez Debuts His First Ever Stand-Up Special on Netflix In front of a hometown crowd in Miami, Marcello shares laugh-out-loud experiences of growing up as a first-generation American.
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[12/08/25 - 06:06 AM] Nominations Announced for "83rd Annual Golden Globes" Marlon Wayans and Skye P. Marshall presented nominees for each of the 28 award categories at a press conference at the Beverly Hilton.
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[12/08/25 - 03:01 AM] Great American Media Continues Its Legacy of Love and Pet Adoption, "Great American Rescue Bowl 2026" The two-hour special event honoring rescue pets and the heroes across America who save lives through shelter pet adoption.
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