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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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[05/21/13 - 02:54 PM]
Monday's Cable Ratings: "WWE Raw" Claims Top Spots for USA
Plus: numbers for Bravo's "Newlyweds: The First Year," ABC Family's "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" and Syfy's "Warehouse 13."
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[05/21/13 - 01:51 PM]
Sunday's Cable Ratings: "Game of Thrones," "North America" Top Charts
Plus: numbers for HBO's "Family Tree," Showtime's "The Borgias" and E!'s "What Would Ryan Lochte Do?."
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[05/21/13 - 01:46 PM]
Saturday's Cable Ratings: Game 6 of Knicks/Pacers Puts ESPN on Top
Plus: numbers for Discovery's "Zombie Preppers," HBO's "The 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony" and OWN's "Life with La Toya."
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[05/21/13 - 01:44 PM]
Live Twitter Event with Cast Members of "Rookie Blue" During the Fourth-Season Premiere of the Series, Thursday, May 23
Missy Peregrym, Enuka Okuma, Peter Mooney, Priscilla Faia, Rachael Ancheril and Matt Gordon are among those participating.
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[05/21/13 - 01:24 PM]
NBC to Air "Devastation in Oklahoma" Special Tonight in Place of "Voice" Recap
The one-hour special is set for 8:00/7:00c, leading into "The Voice" results show at 9:00/8:00c.
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[05/21/13 - 01:21 PM]
"North America" Dominates Sunday Cable in Total Viewers and Persons 25-54 with 3.4 Million Viewers
Discovery further spins the numbers for Sunday, May 19.
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[05/21/13 - 12:56 PM]
Oxygen's "Bad Girls Club" Season 11 Returns to Miami Airing Tuesdays This Summer
Miami was previously home to season five, and the seven newest cast members are ready to live up to their predecessors' wild antics.
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[05/21/13 - 12:19 PM]
A&E's Ground-Breaking Crime and Justice Series Return Thursday, May 30
"Beyond Scared Straight" kicks off its fourth season at 10:00/9:00c immediately following the return of new episodes of "The First 48."
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[05/21/13 - 12:01 PM]
Blake Shelton, Sheryl Crow to Perform Live Next Week on NBC's "The Voice"
Shelton will perform "Boys 'Round Here" on the May 27 edition of the show, while Crow will sing "Easy" on May 28.
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[05/21/13 - 11:54 AM]
Nine New Shows Ordered from ABC Studios for the 2013-14 Season
ABC Studios had the most drama orders of any studio.
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[05/21/13 - 11:48 AM]
Smithsonian Channel to Commemorate Life of Music Innovator Ray Manzarek with Encore Presentations of "The Doors: Mr. Mojo Risin' - The Story of L.A. Woman"
The one-hour documentary is an intimate, behind-the-scenes look at the making of what would be the iconic rock band's final album together.
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[05/21/13 - 11:15 AM]
NBC Delivers Its Most Competitive TV Season and May Sweep in Nine Years
NBC spins the numbers for the season to date.
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[05/21/13 - 11:11 AM]
"48 Hours Special: The War in Chicago" Is First on Saturday at 10:00 PM with Adults 25-54
CBS spins the numbers for Saturday, May 18.
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[05/21/13 - 11:05 AM]
Microsoft Unveils Xbox One: The Ultimate All-in-One Home Entertainment System
Plus: Steven Spielberg will executive-produce an original "Halo" live-action television series with exclusive interactive Xbox One content.
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[05/21/13 - 11:01 AM]
CMT Greenlights 11 Additional Episodes of Hit Series "Dog and Beth: On the Hunt" to Begin Airing in August
The full first season order will now total 22 episodes; production on the back 11 will begin immediately, and will air in August.
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