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[12/26/08 - 06:43 PM]
Development Update: Week of December 22-26
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!
BITCHES (FOX, New!) - Feature writer Michael Dougherty ("Superman Returns") has scored a hefty script commitment from the network for a new drama about a quartet of female friends in New York who are werewolves. The project, which has a penalty attached should it not move forward to pilot, is set up at Warner Bros. Television. Writer/producers Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts ("Pushing Daisies") have been tapped to supervise Dougherty and executive produce. No other specifics were given.
GILMORE GIRLS (The CW) - One day after filing a lawsuit against CBS over "Two and a Half Men" (see below), Warner Bros. Television itself has been sued by producer Gavin Polone over "Gilmore Girls." The breach-of-contract lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, claims the vertically integrated Time Warner companies Warner Bros. Television and The WB "have colluded to defraud the originator of hit 'Gilmore Girls' television series with a scheme that rivals the greed and bravado of any story line defendants could script." Hofflund/Polone, Polone's company with Judy Hofflund, alleges the "modified adjusted gross," the money the show earns after costs are deducted, for "Gilmore's" first six seasons was modified by the studio - through "collusion among defendants to set below-market license fees" and a series of improper charges - which cut into Hofflund/Polone's profits as a result. A third-party audit commissioned by Hofflund/Polone in October 2006 alleges that number was understated by $45.5 million and the company has asked for "tens of millions of dollars" in damages as a result. Warner Bros. has yet to comment on the suit.
LOST & FOUND (NBC) - Australian actor Damon Herriman ("All Saints") has joined the cast of the drama pilot, which centers on Tessa Cooper (Katee Sackhoff), an offbeat LAPD detective who, after butting heads with higher-ups, is sent as punishment to the basement to work on John and Jane Doe cases. He'll play Anthony Yeckel, an oddball civilian consultant to the police's lost-and-found department who has an obsessive love of old detective TV shows. Brian Cox and Josh Cooke also star in the Universal Media Studios/Wolf Films-based hour, which Michael Engler is directing from a script by creator Chris Levinson.
TWO AND A HALF MEN (CBS) - Warner Bros. Television filed a $49 million breach of contract lawsuit against CBS on Tuesday. Said suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, claims the network owes Warner Bros. additional fees toward the production deficit carried by the studio. The "deficit recoupment" was understood to be tied to "Men" hitting certain ratings milestones as specified by the show's original four-year license agreement signed in 2003. The suit indicates the studio incurred a $61.1 million deficit over the course of the first four years of the show (for instance CBS paid $750,000 per episode during "Men's" first season while Warner Bros. actual cost to produce the show came in at $1.22 million), a cost which CBS would cover should "Men" finish as a top 10 show. Additionally, should "Men" finish in the top five in its fourth season, CBS would pay an additional $650,000 more per episode in the fifth and sixth seasons (with a downward scale from there). "CBS has reaped the benefits of the tremendous success of 'Two and a Half Men" but wants to deny Warner Bros. the right to its agreed-upon share," Warner Bros. said in a statement. CBS countered with simply, "Wow, I wonder what they got the other networks for Christmas."
UGLY BETTY (ABC) - "Dexter" co-star Lauren Velez has booked a multi-episode arc on the Thursday dramedy. She'll play Elena, a nurse that enters the lives of the Suarez family, whom reports speculate will be linked to a major plot development. It's not clear when her first episode will air.
UNTITLED MARIA BELLO PROJECT (HBO, New!) - Maria Bello ("The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor") is set to topline a potential new drama at the pay channel about a woman who's forced into a life of crime to support her three teenage sons after her husband is killed. Gary Lennon ("The Shield") is penning the hour, which sees the woman using her sons as henchmen, leading them all down a destructive road. Bello herself will executive produce alongside Lennon, Gavin Polone and John Carrabino.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
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[11/18/25 - 04:01 AM]
Video: "Fugue State 1986" - Official Trailer - Netflix
León and Jeremías' friendship, bonded by literature, shatters when one of them commits an unforgivable act of violence in Bogotá. Inspired by true events.
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[11/17/25 - 07:33 PM]
Ren Meguro Joins Cast of FX's Global Hit Drama Series "Shogun"
Meguro is set to star as Kazutada in the next chapter of the Emmy Award-winning series, which is set over a decade after the events of the first season.
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[11/17/25 - 04:01 PM]
Video: "Culinary Class Wars" Season 2 - Official Teaser - Netflix
A fresh wave of "Black Spoon" cooks face the formidable "White Spoon" chefs in this epic culinary showdown. Who will withstand the heat - or flame out?
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[11/17/25 - 01:00 PM]
Cynthia Erivo to Open the 99th "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade"
The most-watched entertainment program of the year across broadcast television kicks off the holiday season November 27 at 8:30 a.m. in all time zones across NBC and Peacock.
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[11/17/25 - 11:00 AM]
CBS Announces Its 2025-2026 Midseason Primetime Schedule
New series premieres include "Harlan Coben's Final Twist," "CIA," "Y: Marshals," and "America's Culinary Cup."
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[11/17/25 - 10:01 AM]
Hold on to Your Wigs! "The Hunting Wives" Season 2 Is Now in Production
Season 2, filming in the US, will release exclusively as a Netflix branded series in nearly all countries Netflix is available.
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[11/17/25 - 10:00 AM]
"Saturday Night Live" Closes Out 2025 with Three Back-to-Back Shows in December
Melissa McCarthy, Josh O'Connor, and Ariana Grande will host the final shows of 2025.
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[11/17/25 - 10:00 AM]
HBO Original Documentary "Music Box: It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley" Debuts December 4
Subsequent films in the upcoming series include: "Wizkid: Long Live Lagos" (December 11); "Counting Crows: Have You Seen Me Lately?" (December 18); and "Happy And You Know It" (December 25).
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[11/17/25 - 09:31 AM]
Tom Segura Returns to Netflix for His Fifth Netflix Stand-Up Special
"Tom Segura: Teacher" premieres globally on Netflix on December 24.
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[11/17/25 - 09:01 AM]
Video: "Stranded with my Mother-in-Law" - Season 3 - Official Trailer - Netflix
To win a life-changing prize, couples embark on a journey to an earthly paradise and confront challenges... with the assistance of their mothers-in-law.
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[11/17/25 - 07:13 AM]
Lifetime and Vaseline Debut Original Social-First Scripted Short Starring Reality TV Heartthrobs Justin and Marshall Glaze
The campaign supports Lifetime's "Love of a Lifetime" romance movie stunt in November, as well as Vaseline's "New Vaseline Lotions Don't Play - They Perform"!
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[11/17/25 - 07:06 AM]
Video: Peacock Debuts Exclusive New Clip from Universal Pictures' "Wicked: For Good" in Surprise Drop
The film comes to theaters on November 21.
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[11/17/25 - 07:00 AM]
New-Look ESPN "NBA Countdown" Team to Debut November 19
Senior Writer Brian Windhorst, who recently reached a multi-year extension with ESPN, will join the NBA Countdown cast.
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[11/17/25 - 06:53 AM]
"A Tale of Two Cities" Further Casting Announced
New names star alongside Kit Harington, François Civil and Mirren Mack in an exciting new adaptation of Dickens' classic novel.
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[11/17/25 - 06:03 AM]
The Country Music Association Reveals Presenters and Special Guests for "The 59th Annual CMA Awards"
Hosted by Lainey Wilson, the live broadcast airs from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Wednesday, November 19 (8:00-11:00 p.m. EST), on ABC and streaming next day on Hulu.
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