or


[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
     


· AWKWARD FAMILY PHOTOS (ABC)
· BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (SCI FI)
· BIG BANG THEORY, THE (CBS)
· CRIMINAL MINDS (CBS)
· CRIMINAL MINDS: SUSPECT BEHAVIOR (CBS)
· DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC)
· DEVELOPMENT UPDATE (TFC)
· EMERALD CITY (NBC)
· EULOGIST, THE (NBC)
· FREE AGENTS (NBC)
· GUARDIANS (NBC)
· HITCH (FOX)
· MAN OF THE HOUSE (NBC)
· MEMBER GUEST, THE (HBO)
· PUNK'D (BET)
· RUNNING WILDE (FOX)
· SAND MEN (NBC)
· SELLEVISION (NBC)
· SWITCHED (NBC)
· TOUGH TRADE (EPIX)
· UNTITLED JENNIFER SALT PROJECT (NBC)
· WILD WILD WEST, THE (CBS)





[03/18/26 - 01:13 PM]
"Saturday Night Live" Launches New Short-Form Digital Original Series, "The Rundown"
Guests will stop by Studio 8H to select a favorite segment from the show's history to add to the iconic Rundown board, building an all-star episode along the way.

[03/18/26 - 01:03 PM]
All New Series "Conspiracies & Coverups" Premieres April 1 at 10PM ET/PT on Discovery Channel
Former CIA covert intelligence officer Andrew Bustamante exposes the truth behind some of the most sensational, "ripped from the headlines" conspiracy theories in the all-new series.

[03/18/26 - 12:32 PM]
The Ultimate Test of Survival: "Lord of the Flies" Debuts May 4 on Netflix
Innocence descends into savagery when a group of English schoolboys becomes desert island castaways in the first television adaptation of William Golding's landmark dystopian classic.

[03/18/26 - 12:31 PM]
Darren Star & David Schulner Uncork New Napa Valley Rom-Com Series for Netflix
"Uncorked" delves into the life of a talented but self-destructive winemaker who returns to Napa for her second chance at love, legacy and that elusive 100 point wine.

[03/18/26 - 11:59 AM]
ID's Titans of True Crime Return with New Seasons of "Homicide Hunter: American Detective with Joe Kenda" and "On the Case with Paula Zahn"
The series will premiere back-to-back beginning Wednesday, April 15 at 9:00/8:00c.

[03/18/26 - 11:48 AM]
FOX Advertising Announces a Season-Long Major Brand Partnership with Toyota and the Reimagined FOX Primetime Series "Baywatch"
The series will showcase the Toyota Tacoma as the official Baywatch lifeguard vehicle which will be fully customized to authentically reflect the LA County lifeguard vehicles.

[03/18/26 - 11:31 AM]
Jinkies! Netflix Casts Mckenna Grace, Tanner Hagen, Abby Ryder Fortson, Maxwell Jenkins in the Live-Action "Scooby-Doo" Series
The series will uncover how this mystery-solving crew, and their beloved dog, first teamed up to crack the haunting case that started it all.

[03/18/26 - 10:31 AM]
TBS Orders New Season Pick-Up of "Impractical Jokers," Cable's #1 Original Series of the Year, Amid Record-Breaking Ratings
The final two episodes of season 12 air Thursday, March 19 and Friday, March 20 following NCAA coverage on TBS.

[03/18/26 - 10:31 AM]
"Million Dollar Secret" Season 2 - Only on Netflix April 15
This season, the stakes are higher than ever as players face trickier agendas, grueling challenges and navigate the ever-changing game of deception.

[03/18/26 - 10:01 AM]
Peacock Reveals July 16 Premiere Date & Releases First Look Images for "The Five Star Weekend"
The series stars Jennifer Garner, D'Arcy Carden, Gemma Chan, Regina Hall, Chloë Sevigny, Harlow Jane and Timothy Olyphant.

[03/18/26 - 10:01 AM]
"Nemesis" - Official First Look, Teaser Art & Date Announcement
The series, due on May 14, is the story of two men on either side of the law, the tale of what happens when an unstoppable force (an expert criminal) meets an immovable object (a brilliant police detective).

[03/18/26 - 10:00 AM]
Rewatch "Ready or Not" on Hulu Before the Highly Anticipated Sequel "Ready or Not 2: Here I Come" Hits Theaters This Friday
Audiences can revisit the film that started it all and get a special look for what's to come.

[03/18/26 - 09:31 AM]
Video: "Sheng Wang: Purple" - Official Trailer - Netflix
In this special, Sheng delves into what it means to be a grown-up and explores ordinary life moments: sharing prized berries with your friends' kids, cooking with shallots, braving the ghosts in your house, finding joy in nature and much more.

[03/18/26 - 09:28 AM]
Vice Studios Secures Worldwide Adaptation Rights for Iconic Video Game IP "Payday" Partnering with Starbreeze Entertainment to Expand the Video Game Franchise Into Film and Television
Over 15 years of continuous development have made the "Payday" name synonymous with heisting, serving a massive community of more than 50 million players.

[03/18/26 - 09:07 AM]
"Be My Guest with Ina Garten" Welcomes Allison Janney, Jon Batiste, Hoda Kotb and Michael Barbaro in New Season
The new episodes premiere Saturday, April 11th at 12pm ET/PT on Food Network and stream the next day on HBO Max and discovery+.