or


[06/30/08 - 05:46 PM]
Development Update: Monday, June 30
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!


BORED TO DEATH (HBO) - Jason Schwartzman ("Rushmore") has been tapped to star in the comedy pilot, about a struggling thirtysomething writer with a drinking problem in Brooklyn who, following a painful breakup with his girlfriend, decides to emulate his Raymond Chandler-esque heroes by pretending to be a private detective. Schwartzman's casting lifts said contingency off the pilot's production. Jonathan Ames penned the pilot based on his novel of the same name. Production is set to begin in September in New York with Dave Becky, Sarah Condon and Stephanie Davis executive producing alongside Ames. Seth Gordon also serves as a consultant.


CRACKER (TNT, New!) - Granada America is once again looking to import the famed U.K. drama, this time at TNT. The series, which revolved around a criminal psychologist with severe addiction problems, ran for three seasons in the mid-1990s with two-hour specials in 1996 and 2006. Robbie Coltrane toplined the British incarnation while the late Robert Pastorelli starred in the short-lived ABC version here in the U.S. Jason Horwitch ("Medical Investigation") is on board to pen and executive produce the TNT version alongside Robert Duvall and Robert Carliner's Butcher's Run banner.


KATH & KIM (NBC) - The Peacock has ordered seven additional episodes of the comedy, bringing its freshman total to 13 installments. Production was recently completed on the pilot, which was ordered straight to series. Molly Shannon, Selma Blair, Michael Higgins and Mikey Day all star in the half-hour, which premieres Thursday, October 9 at 9:30/8:30c. Gina Riley, Jane Turner, Michelle Nader, Paul Feig and Rick McKenna are the executive producers for Universal Media Studios.


INSEPARABLE (FOX) - Malik Yoba and Warren Kole have scored the final principal roles on the drama pilot, about Justin Lamreaux (Lloyd Owen), a partially paralyzed forensic psychiatrist with a split personality whose alter ego Clyde is a charismatic criminal. Yoba is playing Lt. Curtis Corrales, whom the casting notice details as: "Mid 30s-Early 40s, all ethnicities, a cool, grounded, painfully uncomplicated family man, Curtis is the homicide detective who works most closely with Lambreaux. While our series deals in many shades of grey, part of Curtis' charm is that he is always black and white. While somewhat unnerved to see Lambreaux back on the job in a wheelchair, he clearly trusts Lambreaux's instincts and is eager to see him succeed. Oblivious to Lambreaux's double life, Curtis will often get frustrated when Lambreaux disappears for hours at a time, and over the course of our series, he may even begin to wonder if this man he has put so much faith in is in fact one of the city's most notorious criminals." Kole then is set as Ryan Farber: "25-30, all ethnicities. A serious young detective, all spit and polish, freshly promoted, and perhaps a little too eager to move ahead and upstage the more experienced Curtis and Lambreaux. Though Ryan means well, he is lacking for character and will often cut corners, all the while presenting himself as the charming and handsome poster boy for the department. Over time, Lambreaux may come to distrust him, opening the door for Clyde to come in and attempt to bring Ryan to the dark side as an informant." Morgan Turner and Tricia Helfer also star in the ABC Studios-based hour, which comes from creator Shaun Cassidy.


MANIC (HBO, New!) - Terri Cheney's bestselling novel "Manic: A Memoir" is being eyed as a potential drama series at the cable channel. Said project, like the book, would revolve around Cheney's life as a successful attorney who suffers from bipolar illness. Janet Tamaro ("Bones") is attached to write the pilot script, which will track Cheney's efforts to hide her condition from her employer just as it begins to consume her life. She'll also executive produce alongside Gavin Polone ("Tell Me You Love Me") with Cheney herself serving as a consulting producer.


VIRTUALITY (FOX) - Erik Jensen, Jose Pablo Cantillo and Clea DuVall are the latest additions to the drama pilot, about Earth's first starship - the Phaeton - which is on a journey to explore a distant solar system. Jensen will play the Phaeton's navigator with Cantillo as a mathematician and DuVall as the Phaeton's co-pilot and engineer. They join the previously cast James D'Arcy, Jimmi Simpson, Joy Bryant, Kerry Bishe, Nelson Lee, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Omar Metwally, Richie Coster and Sienna Guillory. Peter Berg is helming the two-hour pilot, which comes from Universal Media Studios and co-creators Michael Taylor and Ronald D. Moore.


Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters





  [june 2008]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S


· BONES (FOX)
· BORED TO DEATH (HBO)
· CRACKER (TNT)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· INSEPARABLE (FOX)
· KATH & KIM (NBC)
· MANIC (HBO)
· MEDICAL INVESTIGATION (NBC)
· TELL ME YOU LOVE ME (HBO)
· VIRTUALITY (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.