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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!
100 QUESTIONS (NBC) - Michael Benjamin Washington has joined the cast of the midseason comedy, which stars Sophie Winkleman as Charlotte, "who, looking for love, joins an online-dating site." He'll play her dating counselor on the series, a role originated by Amir Talai in the pilot. No specific reason was given for the recasting.
BOARDWALK EMPIRE (HBO) - The pay channel has ordered the much-ballyhooed Martin Scorsese/Terence Winter project, about the dawn of Prohibition in 1920s Atlantic City, to series. 12 episodes are set to be produced for a fall 2010 premiere. The show's ensemble cast includes Aleksa Palladino, Anthony Laciura, Dabney Coleman, Kelly Macdonald, Michael Kenneth Williams, Michael Pitt, Michael Shannon, Paul Sparks, Paz de la Huerta, Shea Whigham, Stephen Graham, Steve Buscemi and Vincent Piazza. Scorsese helmed the pilot from a script by Winter with the pair executive producing alongside Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson and Tim Van Patten.
CASTLE (ABC) - Debi Mazar ("Entourage") has scored a multi-episode arc on the show's second season, Entertainment Weekly reports. She'll play Paula Haas, a book agent, who "makes Castle an offer he�ll find hard to refuse." Her first installment is set for October.
THE DEEP END (ABC) - Nicole Ari Parker ("Second Time Around") has joined the cast of the midseason drama. She'll play Susan, "a sexy, smart, steely lioness of the firm's litigation department whose husband, Clifford Huddle (Billy Zane), is the firm's new managing partner." Sherri Saum played said role in the previous incarnation. No reason for the casting was mentioned.
DOUBLE WEDDING (LMN, New!) - Tamera Mowry ("Roommates") and Tia Mowry ("The Game") are set to topline a new original movie for the cable channel. The project, which begins production this month for a June premiere, revolves around twin sisters who begin dating the same man. Craig Pryce is helming the project from a script by Jennifer Maisel. Tamera, Tia and Darlene Mowry are executive producing alongside Howard Braunstein and Michael Jaffe for Automatic Pictures.
OPEN BOOKS (CBS, New!) - Gail Lerner ("Will & Grace") has scored a pilot order from the Eye for a new multi-camera comedy which "revolves around book editor June and her circle of friends." It's understood the project is semi-autobiographical - Lerner spent time as a temp in the publishing world at the beginning of her career while her sister worked as a book editor for 15 years. Warner Bros. Television is behind the half-hour, which Lerner wrote on spec.
THE REAL L WORD: LOS ANGELES (Showtime, New!) - Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz ("Top Chef") are set to team with "The L Word" creator Ilene Chaiken for a new reality series about the lives of six lesbians in Los Angeles. The pay channel has ordered nine episodes of the project, contingent on casting. Chaiken will executive produce alongside Magical Elves partners Cutforth and Lipsitz.
TEEN WOLF (MTV) - The cable channel has greenlight production on a pilot presentation for the project, a small screen take on the 1980s film franchise about a teenage boy who discovers he and his family are actually werewolves. Jeff Davis ("Criminal Minds") penned the script and is executive producing with Marty Adelstein ("Prison Break") and Rene Echevarria ("Castle"). As for specifics, the MTV incarnation will likewise be set in high school, "draw from the horror genre to explore werewolf mythology and include a romantic plot line." Casting is underway.
UNTITLED ALI ADLER/JOSH SCHWARTZ PROJECT (ABC, New!) - Ali Adler ("Chuck") has booked a put pilot commitment from the Alphabet for a new drama about a lawyer "who has observed enough misery in her divorce and family law practice to vow never to take the plunge." The project is "inspired by a real-life high-powered Los Angeles-based female attorney who specializes in divorce and family law," although her identity is being kept secret. Adler is penning the hour and will executive produce alongside Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage, Sheldon Turner and Jennifer Klein.
WORTHY (FOX, New!) - Davey Holmes ("In Treatment") is developing a new drama at the network about "an Arizona politician named Worthy whose struggle to do the right thing takes a wrong turn after he is involved in a hit-and-run and gets blackmailed by a mob boss." The project is set up at 20th Century Fox Television, where it's on track to hire a casting director. FOX's commitment includes a penalty should it not move forward to pilot. Holmes, who penned the hour on spec, is executive producing with Gavin Polone.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
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