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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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[03/24/26 - 05:17 PM]
Production Begins on "The Koreans" - A Reimagining of the Critically Acclaimed FX Series "The Americans"
The series will stream exclusively on Disney+ internationally and on Hulu in the United States.
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[03/24/26 - 04:31 PM]
Video: "Straight to Hell" - Official Trailer - Netflix
As Japan's most famous fortune teller, Kazuko Hosoki ruled TV and bestseller lists, but who was she behind rumors of spiritual scams and underworld ties?
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[03/24/26 - 04:01 PM]
Video: "Humint" - Official Trailer - Netflix
A South Korean agent hunts a drug ring in Russia and goes head-to-head with a North Korean operative - pulling both into peril and tangled secrets.
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[03/24/26 - 01:55 PM]
Video: "When Hope Calls: Brookfield" - Season 3 - Trailer - Premieres April 5 on Great American Family
As Brookfield embraces a hopeful new chapter filled with growing dreams and new ventures, the community grows stronger together.
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[03/24/26 - 01:01 PM]
Bravo Renews "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" for 15th Season
Teresa Giudice, Dolores Catania, and Melissa Gorga, will begin filming soon.
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[03/24/26 - 01:00 PM]
What's New on HBO Max This April
Catch the debut of the fifth and final season of "Hacks"; a new season of "Euphoria"; and the original limited series "Half Man."
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[03/24/26 - 12:52 PM]
Video: "SisterS" - Season 2 Official Trailer - Premieres April 22 on Acorn TV
The series returns with an all-new season April 22 on Acorn TV.
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[03/24/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of March 16 - The Wait Is Over as "BTS THE COMEBACK LIVE" Ignites at No. 1
Holding steady at No. 1 on the English TV list is "One Piece" Season 2 with 11.1 million views.
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[03/24/26 - 12:01 PM]
Paramount+ Renews "School Spirits" for a Fourth Season
All three seasons are now streaming on Paramount+ in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, Latin America, and Brazil.
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[03/24/26 - 11:21 AM]
Tubi Announces New Original YA Thriller-Mystery Film "Remember Me" Based on Bestselling Novel by Christopher Pike
Based on the popular novel of the same name by Christopher Pike, the film joins Tubi's rapidly growing slate of programming targeting a new generation of young audiences.
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[03/24/26 - 11:01 AM]
Netflix Casts Paul Walter Hauser in the Live-Action "Scooby-Doo" Series
Previously announced cast includes Mckenna Grace as Daphne Blake; Tanner Hagen as "Shaggy Rogers; Abby Ryder Fortson as Velma Dinkley; and Maxwell Jenkins as Fred Jones.
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[03/24/26 - 10:02 AM]
BTS Commands the Global Stage As "BTS THE COMEBACK LIVE - ARIRANG" Draws 18.4 Million Global Viewers
The live broadcast from Seoul's historic Gwanghwamun Square reached the weekly Top 10 in 80 countries and secured the #1 spot in 24 countries.
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[03/24/26 - 10:01 AM]
Netflix's "Nobody Wants This": Season 3 Starts Production in Los Angeles
Returning series regulars include Kristen Bell, Adam Brody, Justine Lupe, Timothy Simons and Jackie Tohn.
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[03/24/26 - 10:01 AM]
Video: "Widow's Bay" - Official Sneak Peek - Welcome to Widow's Bay - Apple TV
A new series starring Matthew Rhys from creator Katie Dippold and director Hiro Murai.
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[03/24/26 - 09:31 AM]
OWN's Expands the "Belle Collective" Franchise with "Belle Collective: Birmingham" Premiering on Friday, April 10
The new series will debut immediately following "Belle Collective" on April 10 and the show's season finale on April 17, before moving into the 8pm ET/PT timeslot beginning Friday, April 24.
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