or


[02/08/08 - 06:21 PM]
Development Update: Week of February 4-8
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 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





  [february 2008]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
     


· BIG MATCH, THE (LIFETIME)
· CLERKS (ABC)
· COMMITTED (NBC)
· CSI: MIAMI (CBS)
· DAWSON'S CREEK (WB)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· ENTOURAGE (HBO)
· FRINGE (FOX)
· GOODE FAMILY, THE (ABC)
· INSIDE THE NFL (CW)
· KING OF THE HILL (HULU)
· KROD MANDOON & THE FLAMING SWORD OF FIRE (COMEDY CENTRAL)
· LIFE & TIMES OF TIM, THE (HBO)
· MAN OF YOUR DREAMS (NBC)
· PHENOMENON (NBC)
· SIX FEET UNDER (HBO)
· SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE (FOX)





[01/15/26 - 02:01 PM]
Video: Tubi Debuts Chaotic Trailer for New Original Film "Terri Joe: Missionary in Miami"
In this wild farce, Southern Belle Terri Joe ventures to Miami to outrun wacky criminals and find a new church where she can atone for her sins.

[01/15/26 - 01:38 PM]
"Live with Kelly and Mark" Christmas Week Shoots to a Season High Among Total Viewers - Scoring Show's Best Performance in 10 Months
"Live" has now ranked as the No. 1 talk show in syndication for 152 consecutive weeks across all key measures.

[01/15/26 - 12:39 PM]
Apple TV Lands New Thriller Starring and Executive Produced by Dakota Fanning, and Created by Emmy Award-Winner Alex Cary
Fanning will star as an undercover Treasury agent in a multi-billion dollar international conglomerate who becomes conflicted between her mission and a belief that her principal target is at his core a good man and worthy of her love.

[01/15/26 - 12:03 PM]
Sophia Bush, Jerry O'Connell and Violet McGraw to Headline Upcoming Tubi Original Movie "Summer's Last Resort"
A high-strung teen's vacation takes a turn when she's trapped with her free-spirited mom's try-hard boyfriend, who also happens to be her vice principal.

[01/15/26 - 12:00 PM]
"Baywatch" Is Back! Open Casting Call on February 18 in Los Angeles
The casting call is searching for actors to fill a wide range of roles, offering aspiring talent a rare opportunity to audition for the series' casting directors.

[01/15/26 - 11:04 AM]
AMC Networks' February Highlights Include "Rise of the 49ers," "Dark Winds," "Gangs of London," and Much More
Other offerings include "The Family Next Door" on Acorn TV, based on New York Times bestselling author Sally Hepworth's novel of the same name.

[01/15/26 - 11:01 AM]
Paramount+ Greenlights "Fear Not" Starring and Executive Produced by Oscar Winner Anne Hathaway
The limited series written by Bash Doran will premiere around the world on Paramount+ next year.

[01/15/26 - 10:30 AM]
Starz Bolsters Prestige Period Drama Slate with Critically-Acclaimed Limited Series "Amadeus" Starring Will Sharpe, Paul Bettany and Gabrielle Creevy
In the new series, twenty-five-year-old Amadeus arrives in bustling 18th Century Vienna, no longer a child prodigy and craving creative freedom, his world collides with two pivotal figures: his fiercely loyal future wife, Constanze Weber, and devoutly religious court composer, Antonio Salieri.

[01/15/26 - 10:30 AM]
Prime Video Announces February 12 Premiere Date and Reveals Key Art for "Soul Power: The Legend of the American Basketball Association"
Directed by Kenan Kamwana Holley, the docuseries will premiere exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide and is the latest addition to the Prime membership.

[01/15/26 - 10:01 AM]
Netflix and Sony Pictures Entertainment Enter New Pay-1 Deal with First-of-Its-Kind Global Reach
In the exclusive multi-year agreement, SPE's feature films will stream on Netflix worldwide - an industry-first for Pay-1 - following their full theatrical and home entertainment windows.

[01/15/26 - 10:01 AM]
MGM+ Pulls Back the Curtain to Reveal First Look at "American Classic"
The series will premiere Sunday, March 1 with the first two episodes, followed by a weekly release leading into the season finale on Sunday, April 12.

[01/15/26 - 10:00 AM]
Acorn TV's Gripping, Investigative Conspiracy Thriller "Hidden Assets" Returns with All-New Episodes Monday, January 19
This six-episode series will drop additional episodes weekly on Mondays.

[01/15/26 - 09:05 AM]
Behold! A New "Phineas and Ferb" Movie Has Been Greenlit for Disney+ and Disney Channel
In the movie, Dr. Doofenshmirtz's latest time travel experiment backfires, erasing the moment Phineas' mom meets Ferb's dad - meaning the boys never become brothers and every day is merely adequate.

[01/15/26 - 09:01 AM]
USA Network Orders Second Season of "Everything on the Menu with Braun Strowman"
Across its first eight premiere episodes, in the 18-49 demo, "Everything on the Menu" ranks as one of cable television's highest rated new shows of 2025 and was the #1 entertainment show across all of cable in its regularly aired time slot.

[01/15/26 - 09:01 AM]
Video: "Finding Her Edge" - Final Trailer - Netflix
A former ice dancer returns to the rink with an exciting new partner while holding onto feelings for her old one - her first love.