[08/10/10 - 07:22 PM] Development Update: Tuesday, August 10 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!
BRAVE NEW WORLD (NBC, New!) - "Rescue Me" co-creator Peter Tolan has booked a new comedy at the Peacock about "the staff at a Plymouth Plantation-type living museum that have people reenact the way the Pilgrims once went about their days." Said half-hour, which has a put pilot commitment, comes from Sony Pictures Television where Tolan has an overall deal.
HELL'S KITCHEN (FOX) - Debmar-Mercury has acquired domestic distribution rights to the veteran reality franchise from ITV Studios. The duo presumably hope to sell repeats of the series to local stations across the country. No other details were given.
A LEGAL MIND (USA) - Rick Hoffman ("Samantha Who?") has joined the cast of the drama pilot, about Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams), "a brilliant but unmotivated college student who gets recruited by a Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), a lawyer at top Manhattan corporate law firm despite not having a law degree." Hoffman will play Harvey's competition at the firm, "who is incredibly jealous when Harvey makes partner before he does and stabs him in the back." Aaron Korsh is behind the project, which comes from Dutch Oven Productions and Universal Cable Productions.
THE MENTALIST (CBS) - Eric Winter ("Days of Our Lives") is set to recur on the show's third season. He'll play Craig O'Laughlin, "an FBI agent who catches the attention of Grace Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti), and the two of them have chemistry." It's not clear when his first episode will air.
OLIVE KITTERIDGE (HBO, New!) - Frances McDormand is getting into he producing business, booking a potential series at the pay channel based on Elizabeth Strout's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, which consists of 13 interconnected tales that involve the residents of a fishing village along the coast of Crosby, Maine. She'd also star as the title character, Olive Kitteridge, the town's seventh grade math teacher. Jane Anderson ("Normal") is penning the adaptation with Strout serving as a consulting producer. McDormand then will executive produce.
PARENTHOOD (NBC) - Kevin Alejandro ("True Blood") has scored a recurring role on the show's second season. He'll play Mike, a blue-collar type who works in the warehouse at Adam's (Peter Krause) company and the latest suitor for Lauren Graham's character, who likewise becomes employed at said company. Alejandro joins Billy Baldwin, who had been previously cast as the white-collar rival for her affections. Also signing on for the series' sophomore run: Zosia Mamet ("United States of Tara") as Kelsey, Amber's (Mae Whitman) upper-crust new best friend.
REED BETWEEN THE LINES (BET) - Melissa De Sousa ("Second Time Around") is the latest addition to the comedy pilot, about a busy psychiatrist, wife and mom (Tracee Ellis Ross) struggling to balance her job and her happy but chaotic homelife. She'll play a holistic healer and acupuncturist who shares the same suite with Ross's character. Malcolm-Jamal Warner also stars in the half-hour, which comes from Kellie Griffin.
UNTITLED RINA MIMOUN PROJECT (CBS, New!) - "Privileged" creator Rina Mimoun has snagged a put pilot commitment from the Eye for a new drama about "a mother who reconnects with her adult children when she joins the family medical practice." Said hour is set up at Warner Bros. Television, where Mimoun has an overall deal.
[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.
