or


[09/14/09 - 06:15 PM]
Development Update: Monday, September 14
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)

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!


18 YEARS (ABC, New!) - Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith ("'Til Death") have booked a new comedy at the Alphabet about "a young urbanite couple who must adjust to their new life as parents - trading their fast-paced existence for a more domesticated lifestyle." The project is set up at Sony Pictures Television, where the pair's overall deal is based. Yuspa and Goldsmith will pen the multi-camera half-hour as well as executive produce.


THE BEAUTIFUL LIFE (The CW) - Eric Balfour is set to recur on the freshman drama, Entertainment Weekly reports. He's play Eric, "a charming rival to Claudia (Elle Macpherson) at a competing modeling agency." No other details about the role were given.


GAVIN & STACEY (ABC, New!) - Stacy Traub ("Notes From the Underbelly") and Hayes Jackson ("According to Jim") are looking to import the BBC comedy for U.S. audiences. Ruth Jones and James Corden are behind the U.K. incarnation, which revolves around "a young man (Mathew Horne) from England who strikes up a relationship over the phone with a young woman from Wales (Joanna Page)." BBC Worldwide is behind the new version, which didn't list a studio as attached. Traub and Jackson then will write and executive produce.


THE JANICE DICKENSON MODELING AGENCY (Oxygen) - Reality guru Stuart Krasnow has inked a first-look deal with Fox 21. The pact gives the studio first crack at Krasnow's unscripted output. The prolific Krasnow, who was also behind NBC's "The Weakest Link," "Dog Eat Dog" and "Average Joe," and his company Krasnow Productions had been based at FremantleMedia North America since 2005.


TRUE BLOOD (HBO) - Tony-winner Denis O'Hare is set to join the cast of the show's third season. He'll play the vampire king of Mississippi, according to a report from Entertainment Weekly. No other details about his role were given.


TRUE LOVE (CBS, New!) - Matt Tarses has landed a pilot commitment from the Eye for a new comedy about "four people in their 20s in New York looking for love." The multi-camera half-hour comes from Sony Pictures Television, where Tarses will write and executive produce alongside his studio-based sister Jamie Tarses.


UNTITLED DONALD TODD PROJECT (ABC, New!) - "Samantha Who?" executive producer Don Todd has scored a script order from the Alphabet for a new comedy about "a thirtysomething woman who's promoted to a new job managing a bunch of young twentysomething workers." The multi-camera project is set up at ABC Studios with Peter Traugott of Brillstein Entertainment Partners also serving as an executive producer.


UNTITLED CLARK ROCKEFELLER PROJECT (Lifetime, New!) - Emmy-winner Eric McCormack ("Will & Grace") is set to topline a new original movie at the cable channel about the true story of German con artist Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter who eventually went on to pass himself off as Clark Rockefeller, an heir to the famous dynasty. Gerhartsreiter, to be played by McCormack, came to the U.S. in 1979 as a foreign exchange student where he used a series of aliases to impersonate everything from a talk show host to a Pentagon adviser. Gerhartsreiter would go on to marry Sandra Boss, "a millionaire with a Harvard MBA and a partner at the prestigious business consulting firm McKinsey & Co," and subsequently kidnap their daughter after losing custody during the divorce. The abduction drew nationwide attention and led to the discovery of his real identity. Production on the untitled project is set to begin next month for a March premiere. Mikael Salomon will direct from a script by Edithe Swensen with Ilene Kahn Power and Judith Verno executive producing for Sony Pictures Television.

Separately, McCormack is attached to a comedy pilot from Alex Barnow and Marc Firek ("'Til Death") set to go out to the broadcast networks shortly. In said half-hour he plays Kris Jacobs, "a recent widower surrounded by an eccentric cast of family and friends who tries to put his life back together." The pair will pen and executive produce the Sony-based project alongside Jamie Tarses and Aaron Kaplan with McCormack himself earning a producing credit.


Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters





  [september 2009]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
  


· 18 YEARS (ABC)
· ACCORDING TO JIM (ABC)
· AVERAGE JOE (NBC)
· BEAUTIFUL LIFE, THE (CW)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· DOG EAT DOG (NBC)
· GAVIN & STACEY (BBC AMERICA)
· JANICE DICKINSON MODELING AGENCY, THE (OXYGEN)
· MAD LOVE (CBS)
· NOTES FROM THE UNDERBELLY (ABC)
· SAMANTHA WHO? (ABC)
· 'TIL DEATH (FOX)
· TRUE BLOOD (HBO)
· UNTITLED DONALD TODD PROJECT (ABC)
· US & THEM (SONY CRACKLE)
· WEAKEST LINK, THE (NBC)
· WHO IS CLARK ROCKEFELLER? (LIFETIME)
· WILL & GRACE (NBC)





[03/10/26 - 02:09 PM]
"R.J. Decker" Gets Down to Business with Over 11 Million Total Audience to Date for Series Debut
In fact, "R.J. Decker" was the most compatible telecast to air following "High Potential" to date, with 73% of the hit drama's live audience flowing through to the series debut.

[03/10/26 - 12:10 PM]
FOX Entertainment Names Billy Parks Head of FOX Creator Studios
In this newly created role, Parks will lead the vision, strategy, and operations of FOX Creator Studios.

[03/10/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of March 2 - "War Machine" Powers Up at No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
Plus: "Bridgerton" Season 4 claimed the No. 1 spot on the English TV list with 13.1 million views in its sixth week in the Top 10.

[03/10/26 - 10:01 AM]
Video: "Man on Fire" - Official Teaser - Netflix
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is "Man on Fire." The action-packed new series debuts April 30, only on Netflix.

[03/10/26 - 10:01 AM]
Prime Video Announces New Stand-Up Comedy Special "Kountry Wayne: Nostalgia"
The one-hour special will premiere March 23, 2026 on Prime Video.

[03/10/26 - 09:31 AM]
Video: "Is This Thing On?" - Trailer - Hulu
Directed by Bradley Cooper, the film streams on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ March 20.

[03/10/26 - 09:01 AM]
Bon Appetit! "Eva Longoria: Searching for France" Premieres Sunday, April 12 at 9pm ET/PT
The series will air two episodes weekly on Sundays at 9pm at 10pm ET/PT on CNN.

[03/10/26 - 09:01 AM]
The "52nd American Music Awards" to Air Live from MGM Grand Garden Arena on Monday, May 25, on CBS and Paramount+
Nominations, which are based on key fan interactions as reflected on the Billboard charts, including streaming, album and song sales, radio airplay, and tour grosses, will be announced on Tuesday, April 14.

[03/10/26 - 08:31 AM]
Video: "Untold: Chess Mates" - Official Trailer - Netflix
How did a match between chess grandmasters devolve into a bizarre scandal about anal beads? This documentary digs into the stranger-than-fiction story.

[03/10/26 - 08:15 AM]
Video: Acorn TV Unveils First Look at New Original Series "You're Killing Me," Starring and Executive Produced by Brooke Shields
Amalia Williamson and Tom Cavanagh also star in the six-episode murder mystery series, premiering this spring.

[03/10/26 - 08:01 AM]
Video: MGM+ Debuts Official Trailer for Season Four of the Hit Sci-Fi Horror Series "From"
In season four, the closer the residents of town get to the answers they seek, the more terrifying their search becomes.

[03/10/26 - 08:00 AM]
"America's Culinary Cup" Announces the Acclaimed Guest Judges Bringing the Heat and Key Expertise to CBS' New High-Stakes Cooking Competition
14 renowned guest judges are bringing the heat and key expertise to CBS' new high-stakes cooking competition this season, beginning with the March 11 episode.

[03/10/26 - 07:12 AM]
CNN And Variety Announce Special Programming Live from the Oscars Red Carpet with "CNN & Variety Red Carpet Live"
Beginning at 4pm ET, join Elizabeth Wagmeister and Ramin Setoodeh live from the Oscars red carpet as they bring audiences up close and personal with the world's most-famous stars on Hollywood's biggest night.

[03/10/26 - 07:01 AM]
Video: "Remarkably Bright Creatures" - Official Teaser - Netflix
"Remarkably Bright Creatures," starring Sally Field, Lewis Pullman, and Alfred Molina as the voice of Marcellus, based on the bestselling phenomenon by Shelby Van Pelt coming to Netflix May 8.

[03/10/26 - 07:00 AM]
Video: Way too Much, Still Never Enough - Emmy Award Winner Riz Ahmed stars as Shah Latif in "Bait" Trailer
All six-episodes will be available on March 25, 2026, exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.