[05/24/10 - 06:39 PM] Development Update: Monday, May 24 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!
BEHIND THE BLUE (ABC, New!) - Actor/producer Taye Diggs is developing a new drama at the Alphabet about "a family of police officers - a female Chief of Police and her four adult children, all of whom are in some facet of politics and/or law enforcement." The Austin-set drama is being penned by Scott Veach with Diggs executive producing via his ABC Studios-based O'Taye Productions.
BETTER TOGETHER (ABC) - Greg Malins ("How I Met Your Mother") has inked a two-year overall deal with Warner Bros. Television. The pact, financial details of which weren't released, comes on the heels of the writer/producer's decision to join the newcomer as an executive producer. Malins had previously been set up at 20th Century Fox Television, where "Mother" was based.
BLUE BLOODS (CBS) - Ken Sanzel is in final negotiations to join the freshman drama as an executive producer. There he'll serve alongside co-creators Mitchell Burgess and Robin Green as well as non-writing executive producer Leonard Goldberg. CBS Television Studios-based Sanzel, himself a former cop, previously ran last season's Friday, 10:00/9:00c occupant "NUMB3RS" and was behind the recent CW pilot "Nomads."
CHARLIE'S ANGELES (ABC) - "Smallville" creators Miles Millar and Alfred Gough have been tapped to shepherd the network's long-in-the-works small screen reboot of the franchise. Josh Friedman took a stab last year at a new adaptation while Carlton Cuse and John Wirth did the same back in 2004. All three incarnations have come from Sony Pictures Television. Leonard Goldberg, Drew Barrymore and Nancy Juvonen are still attached as executive producers.
CSI: NY (CBS) - Zachary Reiter, a co-executive producer on the series, has signed a two-year overall deal with producer CBS Television Studios. The pact calls for him to continue on the series for the foreseeable future where he'll serve under showrunner Pam Veasey.
DEPARTMENT ZERO (ABC, New!) - Javier Grillo-Marxuach ("The Middleman") is looking to bring Jonathan Maberry's best-selling Joe Ledger novels to the small screen. The potential drama will follow "the Department of Military Sciences - a special unit that fights enemies armed with cutting-edge technology." Grillo-Marxuach is penning the hour, which comes from Sony Pictures Television.
DROP DEAD DIVA (Lifetime) - Natasha Henstridge ("Eli Stone") has booked an arc on the show's upcoming second season. She'll play the heretofore-unseen partner at Harrison & Parker in the final two episodes of its sophomore run, which launches Sunday, June 6.
EDGAR FLOATS (ABC) - The Alphabet has reportedly asked for six additional scripts for the drama pilot, which didn't make the initial cut for the 2010-11 season. It's understood the Tom Cavanagh-led, Rand Ravich-penned hour is still under consideration for a midseason commitment. Warner Bros. Television is producing.
GHOST WORLD (ABC) - Dana Stevens ("What About Brian") has been tapped as the new writer of the drama project, about "a ghost on the other side who helps an ambitious young female homicide detective solve crimes in the hopes of uncovering clues to his own life and death and centers on the mysterious, intense and sometimes infuriating connection the two feel toward each other." The project is set up at ABC Studios with Stevens executive producing alongside "Ghost Whisperer's" Ian Sander and Kim Moses. Daniel Taplitz had previously been attached.
ISLAND OF WOMEN (ABC, New!) - John Scott Shepherd ("The Days") has booked a script at the network for a new drama about three male surgeons who share office space but nothing of their personal lives with each other until a perfect storm of romantic catastrophes and a lot of alcohol makes them finally turn to each other for support." ABC Studios is behind the hour, which also comes from fellow executive producer Matthew Gross ("Dirty Sexy Money").
THREE INCHES (Syfy) - Jace Alexander ("Warehouse 13") has been tapped to helm the drama pilot, about "a professional daydreamer and underachiever [who] is struck by lightning, and develops a unique "super" power -- the ability to move any object using just his mind... but only a distance of three inches." Harley Peyton penned the 90-minute project, which comes from Fox Television Studios and Landscape Entertainment.
[06/19/13 - 01:39 PM] TNT Bumps Newcomer "72 Hours" to Friday Nights The reality competition series, which had been airing on Thursdays at 9:00/8:00c, will relocate to Fridays effective immediately.
[06/19/13 - 12:17 PM] ESPN to Present World Series of Poker Main Event To kick off ESPN's WSOP coverage, the inaugural World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific Main Event Final Table will air on Tuesday, July 23.
