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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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[05/25/13 - 08:18 AM]
Friday's Broadcast Ratings: "Shark Tank" Tops Night of Repeats
Back-to-back rebroadcasts are the number one and two shows of the night among adults 18-49.
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[05/24/13 - 02:13 PM]
Thursday's Cable Ratings: "Swamp People" Tops Demos, Viewers for History
Plus: numbers for AMC's "Showville," Showtime's "Last Days Here" and GSN's "Minute to Win It."
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[05/24/13 - 01:35 PM]
Mike Darnell Votes Himself Out... of Fox Broadcasting Company
The longtime President of Alternative Entertainment has announced that he will be departing the network at the end of June.
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[05/24/13 - 12:11 PM]
Blake Shelton Organizes "Healing in the Heartland: Relief Benefit Concert" at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City on May 29
The concert will be televised live at 9:00/8:00c on NBC as well as on cable networks Style, G4, Bravo, E! and CMT.
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[05/24/13 - 11:36 AM]
Syfy's "Paranormal Witness" Returns for Its Third Season on June 5 at 10 PM ET/PT
The new season begins with "The Long Island Terror," featuring intense demonic activity at a house in Long Island, NY.
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[05/24/13 - 11:35 AM]
Chris and Heidi Powell and Twin Participants David and Rebecca Live Tweet During "Extreme Weight Loss" Season Premiere, May 28
They'll all be up on @realchrispowell, @realheidipowell, @DavidEWL3 and @BeccaEWL3, respectively.
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[05/24/13 - 11:20 AM]
GSN Announces the Season Two Champions of "The American Bible Challenge"
The cable channel details the winners of the show's sophomore run.
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[05/24/13 - 08:46 AM]
"Rookie Blue" Opens at #1 at 10pm with Its 2nd Biggest Audience Since 2010
ABC spins the numbers for Thursday, May 23.
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[05/24/13 - 08:32 AM]
Thursday's Broadcast Ratings: FOX Opens Summer on Top in Demos
"Hell's Kitchen" and "Does Someone Have to Go?" hand the network victory in adults 18-49.
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[05/23/13 - 11:26 PM]
Development Update: Thursday, May 23
Updates include: Clive Owen, Steven Soderbergh to bring "The Knick" to Cinemax; Neil LaBute's "Full Circle" sets cast; and Stephanie Sengupta departs The CW's "Reign."
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[05/23/13 - 06:23 PM]
The CW Books "Cult" Revival for June 28; "The Hunt" Renamed "Capture"
They'll join previously announced summer originals "Breaking Pointe," "Perfect Score" and "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"
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[05/23/13 - 04:27 PM]
Wednesday's Cable Ratings: Pacers/Heat Opener Dominates for TNT
Plus: numbers for VH1's "Off Pitch," Oxygen's "Best Ink" and TLC's "The Town That Caught Tourettes?"
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[05/23/13 - 03:01 PM]
NBC Completes Best May Sweep in Nine Years As Network Finishes 0.1 of Rating Point Out of First
NBC further spins the numbers for the May sweeps period.
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[05/23/13 - 03:00 PM]
Syfy's "Killer Contact" (Formerly "Notorious Hauntings") to Premiere July 16 at 10 PM ET/PT
Viewers will follow a team of paranormal investigators as they research the otherworldly activity at historical sites.
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[05/23/13 - 02:34 PM]
Kelly Osbourne Hosts Fan-Generated Special "Phineas and Ferb Musical Cliptastic Countdown," Premiering Friday, June 28 on Disney Channel
Leading up to the special, fans can get in on the action by voting for their favorite "Phineas and Ferb" music videos on DisneyChannel.com.
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