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[03/11/08 - 05:37 PM]
Development Update: March 10-11
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!
DRIVING AROUND WITH JONI (HBO, New!) - Jhoni Marchinko ("Men in Trees") has scored a pilot commitment from the pay channel for a new comedy about an eccentric, successful 40-year-old widow who spends her days driving around Los Angeles with her French bulldog, looking for meaning in her life after the sudden death of her husband. The project was originally set up at Warner Bros. Television where Marchinko had an overall deal prior to its termination during the WGA strike. Marchinko then will pen and executive produce "Joni" while Warner Bros. will still retain a piece of the show but not be creatively involved.
ELEVENTH HOUR (CBS) - Marley Shelton ("Grindhouse") has been tapped as the female lead in the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced drama pilot, about Jacob Hood (Rufus Sewell), a special science adviser to the government who - with his feisty female bodyguard Rachel Young (Shelton) in tow - saves people from the worst abuses of science. Ashley Jensen originated Shelton's role in the U.K. version. Danny Cannon is directing the hour from a script by Mick Davis with the pair executive producing alongside Bruckheimer and Jonathan Littman for Granada International and Warner Bros. Television.
HARPER'S ISLAND (CBS, New!) - Feature writer Ari Schlossberg ("Hide and Seek") has booked a pilot presentation order from the Eye and CBS Paramount Network Television for a new horror-themed drama that unfolds during the course of a season as a group of friends meet on an island off the Seattle coast for a destination wedding. "Jericho's" Jon Turteltaub is on board to direct and executive produce alongside his Junction Entertainment partners Karim Zreik and Dan Shotz. The latter pair then will serve as co-executive producers, as will Schlossberg.
MY BEST FRIEND'S GIRL (CBS) - Josh Cooke ("Big Day") is set to star opposite Tim Peper in the multi-camera comedy pilot, about two best friends who own a bike shop and whose relationship becomes complicated when one (Peper) starts dating the ex-wife of the other (Cooke). Mike Sikowitz is behind the half-hour, which is set up at Sony Pictures Television.
THE SAINT (New!) - Barry Levinson, Tom Fontana, Jorge Zamacona, Bill Macdonald, Roger Moore and Geoffrey Moore are set to team to produce an independently financed two-hour TV movie/backdoor pilot based on Leslie Charteris's famed novels about debonair international thief Simon Templar. Zamacona and Macdonald previously set up the project at TNT last season (read the story) but it didn't move forward. The rights subsequently reverted back to them, after which Fontana and Levinson came aboard. Nehst Studios is behind the project while James Purefoy ("Rome") in talks to topline. Production then is set to begin next month with filming in Budapest, Hungary, New York and Puerto Rico. Since the 1997 feature starring Val Kilmer, both UPN (director John McTiernan and producer ATG in 2000) and ABC (writer Stephen Nathan and producer FremantleMedia North America in 2004) have taken stabs at developing a new small screen take.
UNTITLED NICK LACHEY PROJECT (MTV, New!) - Nick Lachey is developing a "Fame"-esque reality series set at his alma mater, the School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati. The untitled project then would track its students, blending their performances with a narrative about what takes place in the school. Marc Platt and Russell Heldt are executive producing alongside Lachey.
WORST WEEK (CBS) - Erinn Hayes ("The Winner") has landed the female lead in the comedy pilot, about a guy named Sam (Kyle Bornheimer) and his rocky relationship with the parents of his fiancee (Hayes) during a family holiday. Her character, Melanie "Mel" Cook, is further detailed in the casting notice as follows: "30. Sam's fiancee. She's a beautiful, warm woman who is unaffectedly striking, even when she's not wearing any make-up. Currently in her first trimester of pregnancy, Mel is throwing up on a regular basis and just trying to soldier on until she's feeling better. Very attached to Sam, she's hoping that his visit for Dick's birthday will sweeten up her parents and set the stage for their announcement of Mel's pregnancy and engagement. However, Sam's surreal string of blunders, gaffes and boneheaded misfortunes make it very hard for Mel to convince her folks that Sam is indeed Mr. Right." Jay Malone also stars in the half-hour, which comes from Universal Media Studios and executive producers Jimmy Mulville, Marc Buckland and Matt Tarses.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
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[08/17/26 - 09:01 AM]
HBO Renews "It: Welcome to Derry" for a Second Season
Brad Caleb Kane will serve as showrunner.
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[08/17/26 - 09:00 AM]
The CW Network Sets Monday, October 5 Premiere for "Private Eyes West Coast" and "Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent" Season 2
Jason Priestley and Cindy Sampson star in the former, a spin-off of the popular "Private Eyes" series that ran for five seasons and licensed in more than 180 territories worldwide.
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[08/17/26 - 08:31 AM]
Netflix and Spotify's The Ringer Sign Tom Pelissero to Multi-Year Agreement Across NFL Content & Coverage
Pelissero will join Netflix's broadcast team as sideline reporter, in addition to NFL Insider, across the streamer's full slate of games this season.
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[08/17/26 - 08:01 AM]
Pluto TV Launches New Format, Double Feature Fridays, in Partnership with "Entertainment Tonight"
Each pairing is connected by shared talent, genre, or theme, and introduced through original "Entertainment Tonight" segments hosted by correspondent Emily Curl.
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[08/17/26 - 08:01 AM]
Video: "A Different World" - Official Trailer - Netflix
"A Different World" returns to Hillman College with a new class stepping onto campus - and beloved faces coming home.
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[08/17/26 - 07:01 AM]
Video: "Hollywood Arts" - Official Teaser - Netflix
The next chapter in the "Victorious" universe is coming only on Netflix, October 15.
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[08/17/26 - 07:01 AM]
Video: "The Drop: A Snowfall Saga" - Official Trailer - FX
The series follows "Snowfall" characters Wanda Bell (Gail Bean) and Leon Simmons (Isaiah John) as they fight to reinvent themselves in '90s Los Angeles, where the fallout from the crack epidemic is fueling a new game: the rise of West Coast rap.
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[08/17/26 - 06:31 AM]
Video: "The Diplomat" Season 4 - Official Teaser - Netflix
In season four, two marriages threaten to eat each other alive.
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[08/17/26 - 06:01 AM]
Prime Video Debuts "The Terminal List" Season Two First Look Images, Starring Chris Pratt
All eight episodes, executive produced by Chris Pratt, Antoine Fuqua, David DiGilio, and author Jack Carr, will premiere on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
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[08/15/26 - 03:42 PM]
Video: First Look at the New Season of "Scrubs"
The new season premieres Wednesday, September 30 on ABC.
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[08/15/26 - 02:00 PM]
"Marvel's Spidey and His Amazing Friends" Renewed for Season 7 on Disney Jr. and Disney+
A first look at the "Spidey and the Avengers: Halloween Team-Up!" special was also shown during the panel, where it was revealed that Grammy Award-nominated musicians Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy and Este Haim of Haim will voice villains Jack O'Lantern and Hallows Eve.
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[08/15/26 - 09:01 AM]
Video: "Upload" - Official Trailer - Hulu
The show's first three seasons are now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.
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[08/14/26 - 11:31 PM]
Disney Sets the Stage for What's Next in Entertainment at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event
Other TV highlights include "Oswald," an all-new live-action animated hybrid series based on the classic character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
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[08/14/26 - 11:09 PM]
Development Update: Week of August 10-14
Updates include: Starz's "SWAT: Exiles" land early renewal; Hulu cancels "Deli Boys" after two seasons; and Disney+, HBO Max pass on projects.
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[08/14/26 - 09:23 PM]
Season 2 of the Emmy Award-Winning Series "Ahsoka" Premieres Exclusively on Disney+ January 20
The new season, which once again stars Rosario Dawson in the titular role, is a story set after the fall of the Empire and the rise of the New Republic, which has Ahsoka confronting what it means to be a Jedi, while the galaxy faces a formidable opponent in Grand Admiral Thrawn.
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