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[09/25/09 - 06:42 PM]
Development Update: Friday, September 25
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!
FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS (ABC, New!) - Director David Dobkin ("Wedding Crashers") and screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber ("500 Days of Summer") are set to team for a new single-camera comedy described as "a comedic dissection of the mating habits of today's young adults." The project is set up at 20th Century Fox Television and Imagine Television. Neustadter and Weber are penning the half-hour, which has a script commitment with a penalty attached, with Dobkin attached to direct. The trio will then executive produce alongside Imagine's Brian Grazer and David Nevins.
HANK (ABC) - Crista Flanagan ("Mad Men") has scored a recurring role on the freshman comedy. She'll play Dawn, the wife of David Koechner's character and sister-in-law to Kelsey Grammer's title character. She'll take over for Melissa McCarthy, who bowed out of the project to work on the feature "Life as We Know It" starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel.
HAWTHORNE (TNT) - Executive producer Glen Mazzara has been upped to showrunner for the show's second season. He'll take over from creator John Masius who's returning to developing new projects for producer Sony Pictures Television. Masius nevertheless will continue to be involved with the Jada Pinkett Smith-led drama, just not on a day-to-day basis.
HOPSCOTCH (ABC, New!) - Chris Levinson (NBC's "Lost & Found") has landed a new drama, this time at ABC. The project is billed as "a high-concept police procedural" and "is said to tell the stories of homicide investigations over several nonconsecutive days, with each act of an episode chronicling a different day." Said hour is set up at the Warner Bros. Television-based Jerry Bruckheimer Television with Bruckheimer, Jonathan Littman and Levinson executive producing. Bruckheimer Television's KristieAnne Reed will also serve as a co-executive producer.
LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT (USA) - Vincent D'Onofrio is set to depart the veteran drama when it returns for its ninth season. He'll say goodbye in a two-part swan song sometime next year that will turn over the weekly reins to Jeff Goldblum's character. "(D'Onofrio) has decided to transition out of the idiosyncratic role he created to explore new acting challenges in film and television," the network said in a statement. Added D'Onofrio to Daily Variety: "After eight seasons, and with the addition of Jeff Goldblum, now is the perfect time for me to explore other acting opportunities and I leave the show knowing it is in great hands with Jeff. For all my loyal 'CI' fans, I wouldn't be surprised if Goren pops up from time to time." Fellow co-stars Kathryn Erbe and Eric Bogosian are also being phased out as well as the previously announced Julianne Nicholson. Filling said void will be Saffron Burrows. It's not clear if any other additions are planned. "Intent" returns in the late spring.
V (ABC) - The Alphabet has rolled back its fall commitment to the freshman drama, an update of the 1980s franchise of the same name. Originally set for a six-week run, "V" will now launch in on November 3 with four weekly installments before returning for its remaining nine episodes next year. The show has been dogged with behind-the-scenes issues as of late, including a "creative hiatus" that shut down production in late August as well as Scott Peters assuming showrunning duties from Jeffrey Bell. ABC and producer Warner Bros. Television nevertheless insist all 13 episodes will be shot as production will resume in mid-October, several weeks before its premiere.
SLACKER SONS (NBC, New!) - Mike Sikowitz ("Rules of Engagement") has scored a premium script order for a new comedy about "two twentysomething brothers who stumble into riches when they create an energy drink" who then "wind up buying their family home and bailing out their divorced father when he's laid off from his corporate job." Anthony and Joe Russo ("Community") are on board to direct the Sony Pictures Television-based half-hour as well as executive produce alongside Sikowitz and Bryan and Sean Furst of Furst Films.
UNTITLED TINSLEY MORTIMER PROJCT (The CW, New!) - The netlet has commissioned eight episodes of a new reality series about the life of young New York socialite/fashion designer Tinsley Mortimer, daughter of real estate mogul George Riley Mercer and interior designer Dale Mercer. Andrew Glassman's Glassman Media ("Momma's Boys") is behind the half-hour project, which is being eyed as a companion to the recently ordered "Fly Girls." As for specifics, the untitled effort will follow Mortimer, who's "currently embroiled in a high-profile divorce," as she hits the New York scene. Mortimer, Glassman and Mike Aho created the project, which Andrew Glassman will executive produce.
Sources: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters
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[09/04/26 - 01:31 PM]
Peacock Greenlights New Competition Series "Get Me Out of Here" (wt) Co-Hosted by Maura Higgins and Rob Rausch
An updated and amped-up take on the massive global format "I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!" the series is set in a dense and unforgiving jungle, pairing celebrities with a non-famous friend or family member in the ultimate test of friendship.
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[09/04/26 - 11:49 AM]
ABC News Wins Friday Night and Late Night
"20/20" posted double-digit gains week to week in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, hitting 6-week highs in both measures.
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[09/04/26 - 10:01 AM]
Apple TV's Hit Drama "Silo" to Return for Fourth and Final Season on July 9, 2027
The complete third season of the acclaimed world-building drama starring and executive produced by Rebecca Ferguson is now streaming on Apple TV.
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[09/04/26 - 08:01 AM]
Production Underway in Prague for Netflix Series Based on Dan Brown's "The Secret of Secrets"
Newly announced cast includes Mamadou Athie, Ben Levi Ross, Anamaria Marinca, Richard Sammel, and Elena Saurel.
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[09/04/26 - 08:00 AM]
Paramount+ Celebrates Mexican Independence Day Weekend with Combat Sports Doubleheader on Saturday, September 12
The wall-to-wall action kicks off with Noche UFC: Silva vs. Delgado at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT.
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[09/04/26 - 03:31 AM]
Video: "Schumacher '94 - The Birth of a Legend" - Official Trailer - Netflix
Michael Schumacher's first World Championship win roars to life through personal interviews and archival footage of the legendary 1994 Formula 1 season.
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[09/03/26 - 03:15 PM]
Brutal Murder Inspired by Horror Film Is First Original ABC News Video Podcast to Premiere Exclusively on Disney+ and Hulu Sept. 4
Based on the Hulu documentary, the six-part series - with new, never-before-seen material and hosted by the producers of the original documentary, Pat Rogers and Conor McCarthy - takes viewers deeper into the slaying of Idaho teenager Cassie Stoddart by killers influenced by a horror film.
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[09/03/26 - 02:31 PM]
FOX Greenlights "Mammoth," A New Comedy Series from Emmy Award-Winning "Modern Family" Co-Creator/Executive Producer Christopher Lloyd and Executive Producer/Writer Danny Zuker
Based on the original BBC Studios U.K. production of the same name and created by Welsh comedian and writer Mike Bubbins, "Mammoth" is produced by FOX Entertainment Studios.
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[09/03/26 - 02:01 PM]
"Famous Last Words" Honors the Life and Legacy of Gloria Steinem
Conducted by Emmy Award winner Brad Falchuk in February 2025, the episode captures Steinem not just as a media spokeswoman, but as a lifelong traveler on the road to justice.
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[09/03/26 - 01:32 PM]
Video: Abbott House Rock - "Abbott Elementary" Season 6
No such thing as too cool for school(house).
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[09/03/26 - 01:01 PM]
Netflix Expands Broadcast Team for First-Ever Regular Season NFL Game in Australia
The studio desk and in-game broadcast team will also return across Netflix's entire 2026-2027 NFL slate, with more names to come.
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[09/03/26 - 11:03 AM]
Kevin Zegers, Paul Gross, and Milla Jovovich Join the Cast of "Heated Rivalry" Season 2
And the crowd goes crazy.
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[09/03/26 - 11:03 AM]
Video: "R.J. Decker" Season 2 - Official Trailer - Premieres September 15
The stakes are higher and the cases are weirder, but R.J. Decker is just getting started.
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[09/03/26 - 10:10 AM]
"Gold Rush" - New Season Premieres Friday, October 2 on Discovery Channel
As soaring gold prices attract a new wave of fortune seekers to the Yukon, mining veterans and ambitious newcomers alike risk everything in pursuit of life-changing riches.
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[09/03/26 - 10:08 AM]
Deliciously Deceptive Desserts Hide in Plain Sight in New Food Network Series "Sweet Deceit" Hosted by Josh Peck
The series is hosted by actor Josh Peck, who hilariously commands the on-screen hijinks as he leads contestants through four rounds as they try to identify masterfully disguised sweets created by world-class cake artists.
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