 |
 |
[10/05/10 - 07:21 PM]
Development Update: Tuesday, October 5
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!
AWKWARD FAMILY PHOTOS (ABC, New!) - Mike Bender and Doug Chernack's web-site-turned-book is being developed as a potential comedy at the Alphabet. Sony Pictures Television is behind the project, which has a script commitment with a penalty attached should it not go to pilot. Moses Port and David Guarascio are penning the script and executive producing alongside Joe and Anthony Russo, who are attached to direct. Bender and Chernack likewise will serve as executive producers.
CRIMINAL MINDS: SUSPECT BEHAVIOR (CBS) - Chris Mundy has stepped down as showrunner of the upcoming spin-off. Ed Bernero, who's at the helm of the parent series, will instead take over operations. It's understood the network was reportedly not happy with its creative direction and asked Bernero to take over. The series is currently in production for a midseason premiere.
DARK TOY PROJECTS (NBC, New!) - Karey Burke and Todd Holland have set up eight new projects at the Peacock via their Universal Media Studios-based Dark Toy banner. Among said roster: Craig Titley's "S.A.N.D. Men," a drama that revolves around "members of an elite squad, Sleep and Nightmare Division, who enter peoples' dreams to confront their nightmares"; Jordan Roter's "The Eulogist," a drama about "a woman in her 20s who moonlights as a eulogist"; Ajay Sahgal and Carlos Jacott's "Guardians," a comedy about "Guardian Angels posing as Starbucks baristas in an effort to help customers improve their lives"; Paul Davies's "Switched," a comedy about "twins who are separated at birth and raised in neighboring towns"; and an untitled drama from Jennifer Salt "set in the tumultuous world of celebrity chefs."
Also in the works are the previously announced "Sellevision," Bryan Fuller's take on the Augusten Burroughs novel, which is now being redeveloped a half-hour (with Mark Bozek, Russell Nuce, Bryan Singer and Jason Taylor also executive producing); and "Free Agents," John Enbom's domestic take on the U.K. series about a pair of talent agents (with Kenton Allen, Matthew Justice, Nira Park and Simon Pegg also executive producing); as well as "Emerald City," a comedic "retelling of "The Wizard of Oz" set among twentysomethings in New York City." Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins are co-writing the hour, with Marti Noxon and Dawn Parouse Olmstead also executive producing. Burke and Holland will executive produce each project alongside their respective creators with Holland himself potentially directing any pilot that moves forward.
HITCH (FOX, New!) - FOX has snagged a potential small screen take on the Will Smith feature of the same name, about a date doctor with his own romantic foibles. Pete Chiarelli ("The Proposal") is on board to pen the dramedy, which has a script commitment plus a penalty attached if it doesn't go to pilot. Ben Wexler was behind a half-hour incarnation that was shopped around in the fall of 2007. Chiarelli, Smith and James Lassiter then will executive produce via the latter pair's Overbrook Entertainment for Sony Pictures Television.
MAN OF THE HOUSE (NBC, New!) - Screenwriter Adam Sztykiel ("Due Date") is developing a new comedy at the Peacock billed as "a Mr. Mom role reversal family show." Robert Cohen ("The Big Bang Theory") is co-writing the half-hour, which is set up at the ABC Studios-based Mark Gordon Co. Gordon and Andrea Shay then are executive producing alongside Sztykiel and Cohen.
THE MEMBER-GUEST (HBO, New!) - Kevin Bacon is on track to star and executive produce a potential single-camera comedy for the pay channel about "a burned-out golf pro of a 9-hole course who just wants one more shot at the tour [but is] constantly sidelined as he deals with the needs of the members of the Middle-American country club who are grappling with dashed dreams of their own." Steve Pink ("High Fidelity") is penning the half-hour, which is based on Clint McCown's 1995 book of the same name. Bacon, Pink, Tom Mangan and Kapital Entertainment's Aaron Kaplan are the executive producers with McCown himself attached as a consultant.
PUNK'D (MTV) - Recording artist Justin Bieber reportedly is set to topline a revival of the former Ashton Kutcher mainstay, in which celebrities are the victims of elaborate practical jokes. Kutcher and Jason Goldberg are executive producing the new incarnation via their Katalyst Films banner, with would roll out sometime next year. It's understood talks began with Bieber earlier this summer, while it's not clear if a deal has actually been closed due to the show's top-secret nature.
RUNNING WILDE (FOX) - Drea de Matteo ("Desperate Housewives") has booked a potentially recurring role on the freshman comedy. She'll play Didi, the randy stepmother of Will Arnett's Steve Wilde who "comes to the Wilde estate on behalf of Steve's never-before-seen dad to rein in his monetary expenditures - on the same day Steve decides to fund Emmy's (Keri Russell) nonprofit organization." Her first episode is set to air later this month.
TOUGH TRADE (Epix) - The fledgling pay channel has reportedly passed on the long-in-the-works drama, about three generations of a music dynasty set in Nashville. Sam Shepherd, Cary Elwes, Joey Lauren Adams, Trace Adkins and Lucas Black were among the pilot's ensemble, while Jenji Kohan, Sean Furst, Bryan Furst and creator Chris Offutt were the executive producers. The news marks the end of the one-time TNT effort, which had four additional scripts ordered and the options on its actors extended while Epix mulled its fate. Said report adds that producer Lionsgate is considering retooling the project into a mini-series.
WILD WILD WEST (New!) - Ronald D. Moore ("Battlestar Galactica") is reportedly looking to revive the 1965-69 CBS series, about Secret Service agents (Robert Conrad and Ross Martin) who get reassigned to the Old West. Will Smith and Kevin Kline toplined 1999's much-maligned incarnation. No specifics were given about the Moore's take, which has yet to begin the network rounds. It's not clear if Sony Pictures Television, where Moore is based, is the studio attached.
|
|
|
 [october 2010]  |
S |
M |
T |
W |
T |
F |
S |
| | | | | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
[04/22/26 - 01:00 PM]
ESPN Opens NBA Playoffs with Most-Watched Playoff Game of Opening Weekend
Saturday's Houston Rockets vs. Los Angeles Lakers matchup on ABC averaged 5.2 million viewers, peaking at 6.4 million viewers during the 11 p.m. ET quarter hour.
|
[04/22/26 - 12:01 PM]
HBO Original Film "Miss You, Love You," Starring Allison Janney and Andrew Rannells, Debuts May 29
A blunt, grieving widow, Diane Patterson (Allison Janney) is forced to plan her husband's funeral with a total stranger: her estranged son's assistant, Jamie Simms (Andrew Rannells).
|
[04/22/26 - 11:17 AM]
USA Sports Announces 2026 WNBA on USA Network Schedule, Highlighted by Wednesday Night Doubleheaders, Marquee Matchups and 2026 WNBA Finals Games
The WNBA on USA Network schedule tips off on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 10, as 2025 WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson and the defending champion Las Vegas Aces visit Cameron Brink, Kelsey Plum and the Los Angeles Sparks at 6 p.m. ET from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
|
[04/22/26 - 11:11 AM]
NBC Sports Announces Its Complete 2026 WNBA Regular-Season Schedule Across NBC, Peacock, and NBCSN
NBC Sports' 2026 WNBA slate of 22 regular season games begins with the reigning WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces visiting the Atlanta Dream on Sunday, May 17 at 1:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
|
[04/22/26 - 11:07 AM]
NBC Sports' Manchester City-Arsenal Is Most-Watched Premier League Match in U.S. History
Coverage averaged 2.6 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, Telemundo and NBC Sports Digital platforms this past Sunday.
|
[04/22/26 - 11:06 AM]
ESPN, ABC Announce 2026 WNBA Regular Season Schedule
ESPN, which has televised the WNBA since the league's inaugural season in 1997, will tip off its 30th consecutive season on Saturday, May 9, with expanded coverage across ESPN, ABC, Disney+ and ESPN Deportes.
|
[04/22/26 - 11:03 AM]
Video: "We'll Be Fine" - Trailer - Hulu
Some love stories don't just consume you... they undo you.
|
[04/22/26 - 10:03 AM]
"In the Eye of the Storm: Chasers" - New Docu-Series Premieres Sunday, May 17 on Discovery Channel
The six-part series captures raw, harrowing encounters as storm chasers, outfitted with their own camera rigs and advanced weather tech, race into the American Midwest during one of the most active tornado seasons in decades.
|
[04/22/26 - 09:32 AM]
Record Setter! ESPN Opens 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs with Three Most-Watched First Round Games on Cable Ever, Excluding Game 7's
The Philadelphia Flyers-Pittsburgh Penguins matchup (Saturday, 8 p.m. ET) drew 2.1 million viewers, becoming the most-viewed First Round Playoff game ever on cable (excluding game 7's).
|
[04/22/26 - 09:29 AM]
Stage Set in the Steel City: ESPN's "College GameDay Built by The Home Depot" to Air Live from the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh
The Draft marks ESPN's first major event of the 2026 football season, culminating with ESPN's first-ever Super Bowl on February 14, 2027.
|
[04/22/26 - 09:11 AM]
Video: Jaw-Dropping Official Trailer for Highly Anticipated Drama "The Vampire Lestat" Released
The wild and captivating next chapter in Anne Rice's Immortal Universe follows Lestat as the world's first immortal rock star on an electric multi-city tour, while he's haunted by "muses" from his rebellious past.
|
[04/22/26 - 09:01 AM]
Start Your Engines... "RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars" Season 11 Unveils Its Iconic Cast Ahead of Friday, May 8 Premiere on Paramount+
With the return of the high-stakes "Tournament of All Stars" format, the competition reaches new heights across 12-episodes packed with jaw-dropping runway looks, unforgettable performances, and the kind of drama only Drag Race can deliver.
|
[04/22/26 - 09:01 AM]
Video: "Send Help" - Trailer - Hulu
Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien star in the film, which streams on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ May 7.
|
[04/22/26 - 08:51 AM]
"High Potential" Shoots to Six-Week High with Season Two Finale
On linear over seven days, the show earned 8.71 million Total Viewers and a 0.61 rating among Adults 18-49, also marking a six-week high in both measures and standing as the No. 1 show of the night.
|
[04/22/26 - 08:18 AM]
Cara Banks Named Lead Play-by-Play Voice for NBC Sports' Coverage of LPGA Tour
Banks debuts in her new role at this weekend's Chevron Championship - the first major championship of the 2026 LPGA Tour season.
|
|
|
|
