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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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[03/02/15 - 01:05 PM]
Move Over Sharks and Make Room for the First-Ever Puppy Week on Nickelodeon with "Nick Jr.'s Puppy Preschool" Kicking Off Monday, March 2
The celebration culminates with the world premiere of the live-action preschool special, "Mutt & Stuff," created by legendary children's TV producers, Sid and Marty Krofft.
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[03/02/15 - 01:04 PM]
Video: WGN America Releases the First Haunting Trailer for Highly-Anticipated Second Season of "Salem" Returning April 5th at 10 PM ET/9C
The haunting trailer features a first look at new recurring guest stars Lucy Lawless and Stuart Townsend who have joined the series for season two.
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[03/02/15 - 01:00 PM]
E!'s New Series "Good Work" Celebrates the Good, The Bad and the Just Plain Wrong of Hollywood's Plastic Surgery and Beauty Craze
The new one-hour, six episode pop culture roundtable series features hosts RuPaul, Dr. Terry Dubrow and Sandra Vergara as they celebrate the "good work" and the "not so good work" of Hollywood celebs.
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[03/02/15 - 12:47 PM]
Destination America Heads to Orlando, Florida for Brand New Episode Tapings of "Impact Wrestling"
Professional wrestlers will be competing in the ring amongst some of the best known in America including Kurt Angle, Bobby Lashley, and Chris Melendez.
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[03/02/15 - 12:13 PM]
Viewers Spellbound by "Good Witch," Hallmark Channel's Newest Primetime Original Series
The Hallmark Channel spins the numbers for Saturday, February 28.
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[03/02/15 - 12:06 PM]
ESPN to Present Record Number of Women's Championship Week Games
The networks will combine to exclusively offer game action of 112 women's games, and will crown the champion from 21 Division I conferences.
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[03/02/15 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Announces Dates for Upcoming Slate
Look for a new season of "Orange Is the New Black" on June 12 as well as the premieres of "Between," "Sense8" and "Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp" in the coming months.
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[03/02/15 - 11:43 AM]
Smithsonian Channel(TM) Honors Passing of Leonard Nimoy This Week with Encore Presentations of "The Real Story: Star Trek"
The program charts Gene Roddenberry's meteoric rise to fame and extreme tactics to keep his series on the air.
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[03/02/15 - 11:37 AM]
Robert Rodriguez to Direct Premiere Installment of El Rey Network/Miramax's "From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series"
The second season kicks off in late summer 2015 on the cable channel.
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[03/02/15 - 11:27 AM]
Discovery Channel's Hit Series "Fast N' Loud" Makes Some Noise with All-New Episodes Monday, March 23 at 9PM ET/PT
Car fanatics Richard Rawlings, Aaron Kaufman and the entire Gas Monkey Garage crew return with new builds and new episodes.
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[03/02/15 - 11:08 AM]
Judge Judy Sheindlin, Host of Syndication's #1 Rated Show "Judge Judy," Signs Multiyear Deal Through 2020
The new deal includes a first-look production deal with Sheindlin's company Queen Bee Productions Inc.
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[03/02/15 - 11:08 AM]
"Cornell: Confidential" Is Live an ABC.com and the WATCH ABC App
"Cornell: Confidential" is a weekly digital series that picks up where the "Secrets and Lies" episodes leave off.
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[03/02/15 - 11:01 AM]
Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow... "Mob Wives" Season 5 Finale Set to Air on VH1 Wednesday, March 4 at 8:00 PM
Plus: Vivica A. Fox to host the season's two-part reunion special beginning Wednesday, March 11 at 8:00/7:00c.
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[03/02/15 - 10:59 AM]
"Scandal" Stars Joe Morton, Kate Burton and Brian Letscher to Appear in Special Season Finale of GSN's "The Chase" Tuesday, March 10 at 8:00 P.M. ET/PT
The season four premiere on January 27 saw its highest rating ever for a premiere.
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[03/02/15 - 10:24 AM]
Video: "The Red Road" Season 2 Official Trailer
The Jason Momoa-led drama returns Thursday, April 2 at 10:00/9:00c on SundanceTV.
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