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[03/06/09 - 06:31 PM]
Development Update: Friday, March 6
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!
THE BODY POLITIC (The CW) - "The West Wing" alum Tim Matheson has joined the cast of the drama pilot, about young staffers in Washington. He'll play a charming, JFK-type senator. Bill Robinson and Jason Rothenberg are behind the CBS Paramount Network Television-based hour, which Scott Winant is attached to direct.
CHOCOLATE NEWS (Comedy Central) - David Alan Grier has confirmed the series won't be returning for a second season. In the March 13 issue of Entertainment Weekly, Grier, talking about his turn on "Dancing With the Stars," remarked: "They asked me before and [I said] no. But then my show, Chocolate News, didn't get picked up by Comedy Central. I said, 'Get Dancing With the Stars on the phone!'"
COUGAR TOWN (ABC) - Josh Hopkins ("Swingtown") and Ian Gomez ("Rita Rocks") have both joined the cast of the comedy pilot, about a 40-year-old newly single mom (Courteney Cox) with a teen son. They'll play neighbors of Cox's character. Bill Lawrence and Kevin Biegel co-created the half-hour, which is set up at ABC Studios.
DIARY OF A MANHATTAN CALL GIRL (HBO) - "Sex and the City" creator Darren Star is returning to the pay channel, inking a two-year, first-look deal with the network. The pact gives HBO first crack at the prolific writer/producer's output, either from himself or other writers he's supervising. Star had previously set up "Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl" at the channel, which didn't move forward to pilot.
GOSSIP GIRL (The CW) - Andrew McCarthy is the latest "Lipstick Jungle" alum to join the cast of the potential spin-off, about Lily's (Brittany Snow) wild teen years in 1980s Los Angeles. Also reportedly close to signing on: Cynthia Watros and Ryan Hansen. McCarthy and Watros are on track to play Lily's parents, Celia and Rick Rhodes, with Hansen as Shep, the best friend of the previously cast Shilo Fernandez, who's got a crush on Lily's sister Carol (Krysten Ritter).
HUMAN TARGET (FOX) - Chi McBride ("Pushing Daisies") and Jackie Earle Haley ("Watchmen") have joined the cast of the drama pilot, about a mysterious freelancer (Mark Valley) who takes on a different identity each week to help those in need. They'll play two of the man's associates - Winston, his business partner, and Guerrero, his information gatherer, respectively. Simon West is helming the hour from a script by Jon Steinberg.
IMPACT (ABC, New!) - The Alphabet has acquired the domestic rights to a new mini-series about a meteor that strikes the moon and sends it on a collision course with Earth. David James Elliott, Natasha Henstridge, Steven Culp and James Cromwell topline the $14 million production, which comes from Tandem Communications, Jaffe/Braunstein Entertainment and Muse Entertainment. It's understood that the Alphabet will air the Michael Rohl-directed project as a limited series this summer with a second window on Sci Fi and a DVD release from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment shortly thereafter.
THE LAW (ABC) - Madchen Amick and Ryan Devlin have both joined the cast of the Cedric the Entertainer-led comedy pilot, about reserve police officers. They'll play two of them - a soccer mom-turned-reservist and a rookie reservist, respectively. Cedric co-created the ABC Studios-based project alongside Bob Fisher.
MAGGIE HILL (FOX) - Stuart Townsend ("Night Stalker") has joined the cast of the pilot, a drama about a brilliant surgeon with schizophrenia (Christina Cole). He'll play her imaginary boyfriend in the hour, which comes from 20th Century Fox Television, creator Ian Biederman and director Stephen Hopkins.
PARENTHOOD (NBC) - Erika Christensen ("Six Degrees") is the first to be cast in the drama pilot, an update of Ron Howard's 1989 feature of the same name. She'll play Julia Braverman, "a go-getting corporate attorney having trouble jumping off the fast track and becoming more involved with her family." Jason Katims is behind the hour, which is based at Universal Media Studios and Imagine Television.
PULLING (ABC, New!) - Rob Hanning has booked a last-minute pilot order for a new comedy about three single women who move in together after one breaks off her engagement the day before her wedding. The project, which is based on Sharon Horgan and Dennis Kelly's U.K. series of the same name, is set up at ABC Studios with Elliot Hegarty directing. Hanning, Horgan and Kelly then will executive produce the single-camera half-hour alongside showrunner Stacy Traub and Francie Calfo.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
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[03/11/26 - 01:44 PM]
Academy Award Winner Tommy Lee Jones Joins Season Two Cast of "The Lowdown" Coming to FX and Hulu
Jones joins previously announced Betty Gilpin in the next season, which begins production this spring in Tulsa.
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[03/11/26 - 01:22 PM]
Lifetime Announces Two New "Ripped from the Headlines" Films for Spring
Nancy Travis and Stana Katic are among the featured talent.
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[03/11/26 - 01:00 PM]
FOX Entertainment Studios Signs Development Commitment with Frankie Quinones for New Comedy Series
Quiñones is a Los Angeles-based stand-up comedian and actor known for his viral character, "Creeper" and for starring in the Hulu comedy series "This Fool."
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[03/11/26 - 11:30 AM]
ESPN Delivers Most-Watched Women's College Basketball Regular Season Since 2008-09
ESPN networks were home to six of the top 10 women's college basketball regular season games across all networks this season and 29 of the top 30 on cable.
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[03/11/26 - 11:01 AM]
98th Oscars Rounds Out Show Presenters
Rose Byrne, Nicole Kidman, Jimmy Kimmel, Delroy Lindo, Ewan McGregor, Wagner Moura, Pedro Pascal, Bill Pullman, Lewis Pullman, Channing Tatum and Sigourney Weaver are all on tap.
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[03/11/26 - 10:05 AM]
Josh Gates Returns with an All-New Season of "Expedition Files," Revealing Striking New Revelations Behind History's Biggest Mysteries
The series is returning with a brand-new season on Wednesday, April 1 at 9pm ET/PT on Discovery Channel.
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[03/11/26 - 10:01 AM]
HBO Original Comedy Special "Color Theories by Julio Torres" Debuts March 27
In his second HBO comedy special, Peabody-winner Julio Torres presents a helpful guide to understanding the world through his playful interpretations of colors.
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[03/11/26 - 09:31 AM]
Video: MLB Opening Night: Yankees vs. Giants - Official Trailer - Netflix
The 2026 Major League Baseball season leads off on Netflix, with Yankees vs. Giants in a star-studded opener live at Oracle Park in San Francisco.
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[03/11/26 - 09:01 AM]
Date & Cast Announcement: Hulu's "Love Overboard"
Produced by Alex Cooper's Unwell Productions and Jeff Jenkins Productions, "Love Overboard" premieres Thursday, March 26 with all nine episodes on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ for bundle subscribers in the U.S. and Disney+ internationally.
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[03/11/26 - 09:01 AM]
Nikki Glaser Returns to Host "The 84th Annual Golden Globes" Airing Sunday, Jan. 10, 2027 on CBS and Paramount+
Glaser said, "I'm thrilled to host the Golden Globes for a third time, not only because it's the greatest gig I've ever had, but because my sister has three kids and now we will be equal in the eyes of my parents and the Lord."
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[03/11/26 - 07:04 AM]
"#SKYKING," the Gripping New Documentary Set to Make Its World Premiere at SXSW 2026, Premieres on Hulu April 14
The feature-length documentary tells the story of Richard "Beebo" Russell, who captured the world's attention when he stole a commercial plane and took off on a flight that would come to embody the dreams and despair of the American working class, while offering a look at the US mental health crisis.
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[03/11/26 - 07:02 AM]
New Episodes of "Rick and Morty" Premiere May 24 on Adult Swim
Get ready to portal-jump back into the multiverse - Adult Swim's #1 series returns with a season that's bigger, bolder, and more ambitious than ever.
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[03/11/26 - 07:01 AM]
"Friday Night Baseball" Returns to Apple TV on March 27 for Its Fifth Season
Highlights include the storied New York Subway Series matchup between the Yankees and Mets, plus multiple appearances by reigning National League MVP Shohei Ohtani and the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
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[03/11/26 - 06:47 AM]
Matt Vasgersian Joins NBC Sports as a Play-by-Play Voice for "MLB Sunday Leadoff" on Peacock and NBCSN
Vasgersian, who spent the last five years as a Los Angeles Angels TV play-by-play voice, will continue his role at MLB Network, a position he has held since its inception in 2009.
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[03/11/26 - 06:31 AM]
Video: "The Hawk" - Lonnie Hawkins Character Reveal - Netflix
One of the greatest names in golf history (that you're somehow only just hearing about), American hero Lonnie "The Hawk" Hawkins is Will Ferrell's newest original character.
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