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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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[11/02/26 - 03:48 PM]
Video: Peacock Debuts Official Fall Sizzle for "Days of Our Lives"
Featuring drama, romance, mystery, and suspense, "Days" follows the lives, loves, and conflicts of the Horton, Brady, DiMera, Kiriakis, and Hernandez families and their many friends and colleagues.
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[11/02/26 - 03:01 PM]
Video: "Quiztopia" - Official Trailer - Netflix
Win: any wish granted. Lose: forced labor. When a bitter girl and rebels target a national quiz show's iconic host, an alternate Japan spirals into chaos.
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[11/02/26 - 01:31 PM]
HBO Renews Original Comedy Series "Youth," from Sharon Horgan, for a Second Season
The series follows a 50-year-old divorcee's search for sex and love whilst juggling caring for her ailing parents and parenting her should-be grown up son.
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[11/02/26 - 12:04 PM]
Video: "The 12 Dates of Christmas" - Official Trailer - Hulu
Christina Walker (Lucy Hale), a successful shop owner who has devoted her energy to her career at the expense of her dating life, goes on 12 dates in the 12 weeks leading up to Christmas hoping to find Mr. Right.
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[11/02/26 - 11:01 AM]
Video: "One Last Order" - Official Trailer - Netflix
After 37 years of turning drive-thru orders into personal connections, Sighle Williams expects a quiet farewell from a Florida burger joint - but her town has other plans.
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[11/02/26 - 09:03 AM]
Video: MGM+ Debuts Official Trailer and Key Art for "Secret Service"
Adapted from Tom Bradby's bestselling novel, "Secret Service" follows senior MI6 officer Kate Henderson (Gemma Arterton), whose covert investigation uncovers evidence that a high-ranking UK politician may be working as a Russian asset.
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[11/02/26 - 09:00 AM]
The History Channel to Premiere "Mission to Honor: A 250th Salute to American Veterans" on Veterans Day at 10PM ET/PT, in Partnership with the White House and Freedom 250
Created in partnership with the White House and Freedom 250, the special honors the service and sacrifice of U.S. veterans through their own words and personal accounts.
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[11/02/26 - 09:00 AM]
Video: Official Trailer For Season 3 of "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" Unleashes a Perilous New Quest
Season three will premiere with two episodes on November 20, followed by two episodes dropping each week on Disney+ and Hulu.
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[11/02/26 - 08:32 AM]
Investigation Discovery Reimagines Its Iconic True Crime Franchise with "Deadly Women 2.0," Premiering November 10 at 9PM ET/PT
Guided by criminal psychologist Dr. Michelle Ward and criminal and forensic psychologist Dr. Rachel Toles, the series covers shocking cases from femme fatales to love triangles and scandalous affairs and the psychology behind them and their perpetrators.
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[11/02/26 - 08:01 AM]
HBO Original Documentary "The Buffalo Miracle" Debuts November 24
The film tells the extraordinary true story of total strangers who found life-saving shelter, friendship, and an unexpected Christmas miracle inside a McDonald's that refused to close when a once-in-a-generation blizzard devastated Buffalo, New York.
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[11/02/26 - 07:01 AM]
Netflix and Druski Announce Multi-Year Deal to Develop and Produce Original Series, Starting December 1 with "Collect & Praise"
The series is built around the comedian's viral megachurch character, expanding one of his most popular internet personas into a longform television production.
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[11/02/26 - 07:01 AM]
Video: "The Man with the Bag" - Official Trailer - Prime Video
Naughty, meet Nice. "The Man with the Bag" premieres December 2.
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[11/02/26 - 06:04 AM]
Freeform's "25 Days of Christmas" Unwraps a Month of Holiday Favorites
It's a very merry Thriftmas as "That Thrifting Show with Lara Spencer: Holiday Edition - Sleigh the Family Room!" premieres December 3.
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[11/01/26 - 10:01 PM]
Video: "Style Wars" - Main Trailer - Disney+
Just purely relying on fashion instincts.
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[11/01/26 - 08:01 AM]
Video: "My Best Friend" - Official Trailer - Netflix
When empty nest syndrome hits, two BFFs follow their teen daughters to Portugal and find love, fun and a whole new meaning of friendship along the way.
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